The 'That's Me Over There' Scare
by RussM
Summary: Strange things are afoot at Mystery Inc, Velma is now wearing make-up and Daphne reads science books. On top of that mystery they also have a case to solve. R&R please.
1. Sack The Quarterback

"Ahhh Saturday morning" said Fred quietly to himself as he wandered into the kitchen to start breakfast. For while he was the only one downstairs but soon the smell of coffee and breakfast began to waft through the house and wake the others.

"Man that smells good Fred" said Shaggy as he and Scooby came into the kitchen "Need a hand?"

"Thanks Shag could you give the girls a shout it's all about done" asked Fred as he began to move the dishes into the dining room

"Velma! Daphne! Breakfast is ready!" shouted Shaggy up the stairs. Both girls quickly headed downstairs with Daphne leading the way.

"Morning Shag, do you have to shout quire so loud?" she asked still slightly dazed and headed to the dining table to give Fred a good morning kiss and to help set up the table..

"Morning Velms!" said Shaggy as he plucked Velma off the stairs, twirled her around then carried her towards the dining room

"Oh stop it Shaggy, put me down" she laughed holding onto him so he couldn't put her down "No not here, closer to the food please"

"OK then" he said and walked into the kitchen and gently set her next to the food.

"I meant the dining table but this will do" she looked into his face and smiled, he returned the smile and lent down to give her a good morning kiss. Velma held his head and the quick kiss turned into something a bit longer.

"It's so nice that they are together now" whispered Daphne to Fred "they're just perfect for each other"

"Yeah they look really happy, not sure I'd use the word perfect, but I know what you mean. Still they'd better stop soon as they're in between us and the breakfast and Scooby looks hungry" replied Fred.

"OK I can take the hint Fred" smiled Velma, "We'll bring the food over before Scooby knocks us down" They brought the food to the table, Shaggy went to get some mustard, chilli flakes and chocolate sprinkles for Scooby's bacon and eggs and Velma was getting the coffee ready when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it" said Fred jumping up and opening the door, he spent a short while talking to the postman then closed the door and turned around and held up two packages joined together with elastic band.

"Hey Daph, Velms your packages have arrived!" he shouted

Both girls looked up, they'd been waiting ages for these to arrive so both dashed towards Fred

"Sack the quarterback!" yelled Daphne.

"Let's get him!" shouted Velma

The girls came at Fred from opposite side and both made a flying leap for him. All of a sudden Fred was back in the last game at college, there were 5 seconds on the clock, it's forth and goal, he's just got the ball and the defence are going all out for a sack and turnover, his linesman are crumbling before his eyes but there open in the end zone is Rogers their ever nimble wide-receiver, at the last second he jumped back to avoid the sack, he guns the ball, Rogers leaps up and…TOUCHDOWN!

"Spike it in the end zo... oh" Fred shouted punching the air

The sound of Daphne and Velma crashing head first into each other brought him out of his flashback; he had enough presence of mind to grab Velma's glasses as they went flying through the air. Both girls crumpled to the ground clutching their heads. Fred and Shaggy were there in an instant and helped them to the sofas. Shaggy went and made crushed ice compresses for their heads and got some pain-killers. Both of the girls lay on the sofas holding the ice packs against their heads waiting for the world to stop spinning. Fred closed some of the curtains to dim the room.

"Think we're done for the day already Fred" whispered Shaggy "They are going to have sore heads all day after that. My head just hurts thinking about it"

Fred nodded in agreement "Yeah, that was a good catch Shag.".

Fred noticed that Velma was beginning to feel around "Velma is looking for her glasses Shag, better pass them to her" said Fred handing him Velma's glasses. He was puzzled why she kept moving her hand towards and away from her face.

"My eyes! I can't see anything properly, everything is so blurry, get a doctor Fred, please" cried Velma in panic.

"Relax, your glasses came off when you bumped heads, here they are" said Shaggy putting the glasses in Velma's hand.

"This is no time for joking Shaggy; I don't wear glasses, Velma does" said Velma getting unusually emotional

"Errr" went Shaggy

"Daphne,…" started Fred as he headed to Daphne

"What!" replied Velma "Please Fred, I'm serious, I can't see properly"

"I didn't ask you Velma." said Fred getting annoyed

Shaggy knelt down beside Velma "Are you OK Velms? You seem a bit confused"

"I'm OK Shaggy, my head just hurts a lot" replied Daphne "But what are you doing over there kneeling next to…" Daphne screamed so loud that everyone cringed "I must be dead, this can't be happening, I can see my own body" Fred knelt next to Daphne and took hold of her hands.

"Daphne, Daphne, your not dead, we are all here"

"I know I'm not dead Fred, I just can't see properly, what are you doing? Where are you Fred? Please stop messing about, I'm scared" sobbed Velma sitting up and trying to feel around. Fred and Shaggy looked at each other in confusion _what's going on_ Shaggy mouthed to Fred, Fred just shrugged his shoulders. Shaggy sat next to Velma and put his arm around her, "Thanks Shaggy you are kind, but you should be with Velma. Why won't Fred come to me?"

Daphne looked confused and annoyed " Fred, why are you talking to me like I'm Daphne? This is no time for joking, she sounds really upset _and_ injured. You should get her to a doctor if her sight has been affected. Look, swap places with Shaggy, your place is with Daphne."

"But... I..." started Fred

Daphne's hand went up to her face as if she was going to adjust a pair of glasses. "My glasses, where are my glasses? I can't… see… but I _can_ see. I can see clearly." Daphne's face was a mixture of confusion, fear and wonder; she held a hand in front of her face then screamed again "This isn't my hand! My voice? What's happened to my voice? I sound like…" she looked down at her body "Oh jinkies, this can't be happening, it's impossible. Fred, bring me a mirror now!" A few seconds later a hand mirror was brought to her and she held it in front of her. Daphne looked into the mirror and went white. She raised a trembling hand to her face "No, no. no. no" she whispered "this can't be happening, this just can't be true." There was only one way to resolve this, Daphne carefully sat up and took a few deep breathes to steady her nerves and attempt to clear her head

"Everyone else be quiet. Daphne?" said Daphne clearly

"Yes Velma, are you OK? You sound so different, my head hurts so much and I can't see properly now. Why won't Fred believe me" replied a distressed Velma

"I feel… different as well Daphne," said Daphne carefully "I think perhaps you _should_ put those glasses on, just trust me, _please_." Reluctantly Velma put on her glasses and looked around, shock and confusion registering on her face "I... I can see now. I don't' understand, I don't wear glasses Velma… does…" she looked down at herself then in the direction of Daphne, who smiled and waved at her. That was her body over there, but she was over here and that wave and facial expression belonged to Velma. Velma's eyes fluttered briefly then she fainted.

"Velma!" shouted Shaggy as he caught her. Fred and Shaggy laid her back on the sofa.

"Velma's over here Shag" said Daphne hugging herself, "That's my body, but I'm here, in Daphne's body. And it sounds like Daphne is in my body." The boys looked utterly bewildered now "When we knocked heads, something must have happened, I can't begin to imagine what, and we swapped bodies"

"If this is some joke Daphne, it's not funny" said Fred his annoyance beginning to show

"Oh how I wish this was a joke. Look Fred, would Daphne speak like this and would I act like that? How many times have I ever fainted? And you know the routine I follow when I loose my glasses. Look, ask me any question that I, that is Velma, could answer, and Daphne could not."

They thought for a few seconds then Scooby whispered something in Shaggy's ear

"Look are you sure Scoob, doesn't it all depend on the carpenter and how big the bit of wood is?"

"What are you talking about Shag?" asked Daphne quizzically

"Scoob was asking how long the planks were, but wouldn't that depend…"

"The Plank Length?" Daphne asked Scooby

"Res" said Scooby

"1.616252x10^-35 meters, it's important in quantum gravity."

Scooby whispered something else in Shaggy's ear

"The Bee Gees? C'mon Scooby, we all know who the Bee Gees are"

"Rig Ree" said Scooby loudly

"I think Scooby means Big G, Shag. It's the gravitational constant, you use it in calculating the gravitational attraction between two bodies. We had to derive this in science class at school remember? Anyway it's 6.67428x10-11 N(m/kg)^-2."

"Rokay, run rore" and he whispered again in Shaggy's ear.

"What's Avocado's number?" said Shaggy

"Rou-roy" muttered Scooby shaking his head

Daphne laughed "You mean Avogadro's number, its 6.022x10^23"

"Rix roint rero rwo rwo run rour run reven rine" corrected Scooby

"True but it's commonly shortened to 6.022x10^23 wait a minute how come you know so much about physical constants Scooby?" asked Daphne

"Ri rate rour rook ron rhem" said Scooby looking a bit guilty "Rorry Relma"

"You ate my little blue book of physical constants?" said Daphne "I was wondering where that had gone."

"Rhe's Relma ror rure" said Scooby

"Well that's that sorted out and at least you know what you can get me for my birthday Scoob"

With everyone looking at her, Daphne was the first to notice that Velma was beginning to stir

"Quick Fred, make sure her glasses are on and you are the first person she sees, and remember to call her Daphne" said Daphne urgently "Shaggy, Scooby get in front of me and hide me I don't want her fainting again. If she does, then I might faint as well and Dinkley's don't faint," Just to be sure she wrapped her arms around Shaggy's waist and rested her forehead on his back.

"Oh my head" whispered Velma opening her eyes, she was relieved that Fred was there next to her this time "What happened Fred?"

"You crashed head on with Daphne Velma I mean Velma, Daphne... Daphne" he replied and smiled nervously, Velma just stared at him _oookay and who hit you over the head?_

"That's for sure, is that ice pack around?" said Velma

"Here you go Daph" said Fred as he placed the pack back on the bump on her head

"Ow, thanks Fred, I had the strangest dream, I dreamt that I had swapped bodies with Vel… ma" she stopped as she moved her hand up to hold the compress and saw that she was wearing an orange jumper, she looked down at herself and gave a sharp intake of breath. Her hands felt her face, that wasn't her face' then she found the glasses

"I don't wear glasses" she whispered, she closed her eyes and moved the glasses from her eyes to her forehead then gingerly opened her eyes. The world was now just a mass of blurred coloured shapes. The large white blob, with a smaller pink blob and a smear of yellow on top she assumed must be Fred. She slowly extended a hand towards the pink blob, she stared in horrid fascination as her hand and forearm transformed into ill-defined coloured shapes as they moved towards him. Fred took her hand and held it against his face he could see her eyes being to widen, the colour began to drain from her face and her rate of breathing quickened.

"Shhhhh Daph, and I know its you are in there Daph. We're all freaked out at the moment with what has happened so you are in good company." Fred reached down are replaced her glasses, for Daphne the world became familiar once again.

"Where's Velma?" she asked quietly

"I'm over here Daph, I'm hiding behind Shaggy and Scooby, and I'm in your body at the moment. I didn't think it would be fair if the first thing you saw when you came round was yourself. It happened to me a few minutes ago and it's just too freaky for words."

"What do we do now?" asked Velma quietly

"Good question Daph, anyone have any suggestions?" said Daphne. There was a brief silence then.

"Breakfast!" exclaimed Shaggy


	2. Cartesian Dualism 101

"Breakfast!" said Daphne and Velma simultaneously as they all stared at him incredulously. Even Scooby looked a bit nonplussed at his statement.

"Look, it's not _just_ my stomach speaking, it's something we do together, it's a routine, let's stick to that routine, routines can be comforting; I think some comfort and stability would be good right about now. And man are we going to need the energy to work this one out."

Daphne sat back and smiled "Brilliant idea Shag. Yes, the routine will help us, let's eat."

He turned around and spoke quietly to Daphne as he stroked her hair, "And I know you need some comfort Velms, I can still feel you shaking. What you did for Daph was very thoughtful. You really make me proud." she looked up and smiled at him "Thanks Shag" she whispered, then a thought struck her

"Err Daph?" said Daphne

"Yes?" replied Velma

"Exactly how _do_ you stand up in such a tall body?" pleaded Daphne

"I just get up Velma, nothing different from normal" replied Velma with a hint of amusement creeping into her voice.

"If you say so, here goes" said Daphne uncertainly. Eventually she pulled herself up and tried to take a step, Daphne tottered across the lounge barely in control of where she was going "Jinkies! Just how tall are you Daph? Shaggy steady me, I'm not used to being this high up."

All of a sudden Velma started laughing "Sorry Velma, but your face."

"I can't change direction!" said Daphne as she headed for the other sofa "Incoming!"

She arrived at the sofa and attempted to sit down, almost fell into the sofa next to Velma "I'm falling, help!" yelled Daphne

"You OK Velms? That was some fall" said Velma with a mixture of amusement and concern

"Yes, just some altitude sickness" replied Daphne then she sighed "This has 'long day' written all over it. Shag, help me up and point me in the direction of the food"

"Jeepers Velms, sure you haven't swapped bodies with Shaggy" smiled Velma

"Let's see you stand up then" said Daphne failing to get the joke.

Much to her surprise Velma just jumped up onto her feet "Wow!" said Velma. Velma then ran around the house without hitting anything "This is great!" shouted Velma, "I'll go and get the condiments"

"No Daph!" shouted Daphne as she saw Velma leap into the food cupboard but taking her glasses off by mistake "There not sunglasses"

From the food cupboard there came the sound of things crashing to the ground.

"Ow my foot! Ow my head! Ow! Ow! Ow!" shouted Velma as Fred and Shaggy headed over to help

"Daphne Blake!" shouted Daphne "You may be in my body, but I do not want to find it a mass of bumps and bruises when I get it back, put those glasses back on NOW!"

"My eyes, my eyes!" wailed Velma "What do I do? I can't see"

"Oh jinkies" whispered Daphne quickly working out where here legs needed to go and dashing over to the food cupboard "Don't worry Daph, I'm heeeeeeeer!" she yelled as she slipped on a can and slid down the hall. Shaggy sighed and set off after Daphne while Fred helped Velma and tided up the mess.

Finally everyone was sitting down eating breakfast.

"OK, that's the test drive over and done with" said Daphne "Now let's try to work out how to get back to where we both belong."

"You said it Velms" replied Velma "Things aren't too bad if I close my eyes but sitting opposite myself is a bit off-putting"

"Tell me about it Daph, when I open my eyes it just makes me shudder inside. Still Shaggy was right, I do feel a bit better now."

After breakfast they sat in silence for a while, Daphne looked lost in thought and Velma was fiddling around with her glasses trying to get used to the feeling of wearing them. She looked up to see Fred, Shaggy and Scooby looking expectantly at her and then nearly fell off her chair in surprise

"Jeepers! What are you looking at me like that for?" she exclaimed _do we really just all stare at Velma like that, talk about being under pressure_.

"Sorry Daph, force of habit. There again looking at Velma is a hobby of mine" said Shaggy fluttering his eyelashes at Velma who looked for something to throw at him.

Just then Daphne spoke up "Hmmm, it may help us if we carry on as we were as if this had not happened. I'll sleep in my, that is Velma's room and Daph in her room. We could also try wearing our normal clothes, so I'll wear my jumper and so on. I'm guessing that Daph would rather not be wearing orange..."

"So I dress as Daphne and you as Velma?" said Velma

"Exactly, it will be obvious who's who so none of us will get confused like my misdirected Romeo here" said Daphne smiling at Shaggy

"I get it" said Fred "And we'll use the name of the person we want to talk to, so if I say 'Daph' I'm talking to the person Daphne, not the body."

"Works for me" said Velma

"And me" agreed Daphne and Shaggy

"You boys can do the washing up, we get to play dress-up" said Velma and the girls went upstairs to swap clothes. The washing up was done and Fred and Shaggy were sitting in the living room. It had been ages since the girls had gone upstairs. Finally they heard the sound of someone slowly and carefully coming downstairs, Scooby came running in and hid behind the sofa. Fred and Shaggy exchanged worried glances, if Scooby was spooked then...

Daphne appeared before them dressed in Velma's clothes. "Nobody says anything, nobody gets hurt" the voice was Daphne's but the pose and tone of voice belonged to Velma "This idea isn't going to work, neither of us fit into each others clothes" said Daphne trying to hold up her skirt. "Back in a bit with plan B" then headed back to the stairs "or C" she muttered to her self.

The only obvious solution was for each to wear the correct clothes for their particular body. To any observer, Daphne and Velma would appear as they usually did.

"Like as Fred said as long as we use the name of the person we want to speak to then all will be cool, perhaps we can close our eyes when we speak" said Shaggy

"OK, we'll keep this up till I can figure out how to get us back in our own bodies" Daphne sighed "In the privacy of our own rooms, I can wear my old jumper if it makes me feel better and Daphne" "Yes Velma" she replied

"You can put make-up on if it makes you feel better but you need to get stuff that won't bring me out in a rash. You'll forget only once, trust me on that. You'll also need to show me how to apply your make-up as well Daph."

"What about day-to-day stuff, shopping going into town and the like?" asked Shaggy "You can't stay in doors all the time."

"True, but first we need to come up with something that will explain our behaviour as neither of us can pretend to be the other for long." said Daphne

"We could pretend to have sore throats to we can't speak much." suggested Velma

"Hmmm, good idea Daph that could be worth a try" said Daphne "There's also emmm the other matter we discussed Daph."

"What other matter?" said Fred.

"You know?" said Daphne looking quite uncomfortable

"Nope, beats me" said Shaggy.

There followed an uncomfortable silence

"Daph, I'd feel more comfortable if you said this" said Daphne fiddling nervously with the edge of her skirt.

Velma sighed "Right, this applies to all of us, but for the time being it's pretty much hands off for all of us. Holding hands is OK, but not much else. It's disorientating enough as it is at the moment without any further complications. We need to be vary careful when we are out, especially where we are known"

"Ah" said Shaggy "Well known, you mean like most places outside our front door?"

"Yes, hadn't thought of that. Yes good work you two," said Fred

"While you boys are digesting that, there's one more thing I must do for you Daph." said Daphne. She smiled as she managed to stand up first time "I need to train you in ways of the Dinkley, namely glasses and what to do if and when they go missing."

"Thanks Velms, and I need to tell you about the Blake family curse." said Velma

"The what?" replied Daphne.

"Remember 'danger prone Daphne'?" said Velma

"That was ages ago" replied Daphne dismissively "you don't even stub your toe now let alone have anything else happen to you. Well at no greater rate than any of us."

The rest of the day was split between trying to work out how it had happened, what could be done to reverse it and the girls getting used to their new bodies. Daphne produced a series of lists of tasks and events for which they needed to come up with some kind of plan, for example if one of their friends or parents called and sketched out what they needed to look into tomorrow. She decided that it was time to call in a few favours and hoped to be able to get them run though a few brain scanners early next week. They considered leaping head first at each other again to see if that would reverse the change but didn't as their heads were still sore and neither Fred nor Shaggy would try it first. In the end they gave up and decided to have an extended pizza, ice-cream and movie evening, it was Saturday after all. When the day closed despite all the trials and tribulations of the day Daphne and Velma quickly fell asleep.

As the sun came through the curtains the next morning Daphne's eyes fluttered opened "Mmmm, boy what an odd dream that was..." she started to drop off to sleep again when the house was jolted awake by blood curdling screams coming from Daphne's room. Daphne sat up with a start and promptly fell out of bed. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and nearly screamed herself

"Oh jinkies, it wasn't a dream. I hope Daphne remembered..."

Fred was at Daphne's door within seconds, fearing something was wrong he opened the door and went straight in. Velma was curled up in a ball under the covers

"Daph what's up" he asked heading towards her

"Just... just get Velma!" wailed Velma.

"I'm on it Daph" he said heading of to Velma's room almost colliding with Daphne as she hurried out of Velma's door.

"What's up Fred?" she said as they headed to Daphne's room

"I don't know" he replied trying to remember who it was he was speaking to. To add to the confusion Shaggy and Scooby came running out of Velma's room

"Where's Velma Daph? I heard her scream but she's not in her room" he said looking rather panicked.

"Other way round Shag, remember. I'm Velma on the inside, Daph on the outside" said Daph as she entered Daphne's room and shut the door. Scooby sniffed the air and looked puzzled.

"What's wrong Daph, you looked like you have seen a ghost" said Daphne sitting next to her on the bed. Velma groped her way out and sat on the edge of the bed next to Daphne.

"I'm sorry Velma, I'm so very sorry Velma" sobbed Velma

"Sorry about what?" asked Daphne putting her arms round Velma

"For all the times I've been impatient when you have lost your glasses or sniggered over you obsession with them. I just never knew it was like this, I'm so sorry Velma."

"Daph what happened? You saw how I see yesterday" said Velma soothingly

"I woke up, opened my eyes and was just so petrified by what I saw. I can't image you doing this every morning."

"I'm used to my eyes Daph, you just have to remember where you put things, especially the glasses." Daphne reached over, picked up the glasses and handed them to Velma who put them on

"Thanks Velma. That's better... oh jeepers now I'm talking to myself in real life" shuddered Velma closing her eyes

"I've been speaking to you with my eyes closed Daph" sighed Daphne "I fell out of bed then nearly had a fit when I saw you looking back at me in the mirror. After breakfast I'm hitting the neuroscience books, big time."

"I'll search the net to see if there have been any similar cases reported" said Velma

"And the boys can wait on us hand and foot" they said together

"Did you hear the phone go a while ago Velms?" said Velma as they got up and headed for the door.

"Not sure, Fred or Shaggy would have dealt with it in any case. Let's get dressed and get downstairs."

When they got downstairs they found Fred by the Mystery Inc phone writing some notes and Shaggy scowling at him.

"What is it Freddie, you look worried." said Velma

_And bit guilty _thought Velma_, you haven't agreed to a case have you... you have... you idiot Fred, Daph is going to blow a fuse if she has to go out in my body_.

"We have a case – a big one. By the sounds of it a whole town's livelihood is at stake."

"Oh joy" Velma sighed "Fred, I think we have our own little mystery here at the moment, remember." she pointed at her and Daphne's head "You know wrong person in wrong body"

"I know Daph but we've never been there before so no-one will have met us" said Fred trying to put a positive spin on things "It's a whole community at stake, food is disappearing from the farms in the area."

"I'll pack some neuroscience books; we can still do the web searched whilst we are there and I can still get our brain scans scheduled." sighed Daphne she than began to look worried "Daph?"

"Yes Velma?" said Daphne

"Just how real is this family curse of yours?" said Daphne biting her bottom lip.


	3. Destination Beetsville, USA

"I have a book that should help, it's an inherited thing, it runs down the Bakle side of the family. You can work around it Velms so don't panic if a couple of odd things happen, I'm sure you will get the hang of it" said Velma as she went off to get the aforementioned book

"Thanks Daph. So Fred, where are we off to this time?" asked Daphne without enthusiasm

"It's a place called Beetsville…" started Fred.

Shaggy's face lit up "Beetsville? Beetsville! No way man, that's like the American home of Beet, it's twinned with Sveklagrad in Russia, their home of the Beet. Beetsville have a fantastic Festival of Beet every other year and it's the only place in the US where you can get beet flavoured Scooby Snacks, man I have always wanted to go there. Hang on guys I've got something to show you..." and Shaggy dashed off to his room shouting at Scooby "Scooby we're off to Beetsville, get a case of 5 Skull Fire Sauce for each of us, and one for the rest of the gang."

"You are on your own with this one Velms" smiled Fred as he quickly headed off to start packing

"Fred, don't leave, please, damsel-in-distress here, help?" said Daphne towards his receding form "bet you'd come and help if Daphne was still inside" muttered Daphne to herself. Shaggy returned before she could formulate another escape plan carrying some books, an old vinyl album and wearing some different clothing

"Right, you are all in for a culinary treat when we get there" said Shaggy returning with a pile of books "I've got recipes for beetburgers, beet crumble, beet ice-cream, beetshakes, beet stroganoff, beet cola and one to remind us of our school days malted-beet shakes."

"Great" said Daphne _think quickly Dinkley, can I be that evil, yes I can_ she thought then said "I think Daphne would like the malted-beet shakes, she's always keen on things that remind her of our early days together, perhaps with beet ice-cream float?"

Shaggy's face lit up "Velms you're a genius, she'd love that!"

"I have my moment" she smiled in return

"And when you are back in the right body there's a 'Beet for Lovers' cookbook I've been saving up for, well, that special lady." he said sheepishly showing her a book that, though old, was in pristine condition "Remember when you first kissed me after I gave you my coat and walked you home in bad rainstorm."

After a few seconds thought Daphne replied "We'd not long started High School! Wasn't it was raining so hard that I couldn't see out of my glasses?" she replied, Shaggy nodded. She was surprised that she could remember back to all those years ago.

"Yes, I know it was just a thank-you kiss but, well after that I saved up all my pocket money for weeks and got this book. I kinda hoped to get the chance to cook you some of those dishes one day."

Despite herself Velma could feel herself go all warm and fuzzy inside, perhaps it was because she was in Daphne's body, but she could feel her eyes go all watery as well and heard herself sigh "Oh Shaggy, that's just so sweet and romantic. I'd love for you to do that."

Velma was surprised to see Shaggy blush "Thanks Velms, I'll cook some recipes from it when you are back in your proper body. Beet has been known to be invigorating" and he waggled his eyebrows

"I'll look forward to that Shag" she replied _I think _"What else have you got?"

"I've got this rare Yes album 'Tales from a Topographic Beetroot' plus this 'Beef makes beefy boys' T-shirt and hat, the shirts a bit tight now but what d'ya think Da.. I mean Velms?" he put the books and album down to reveal his new clothes

"Errrr quite" she replied still not quite knowing what to make the apparition in front of her "very... beety?"

"I've never been a beatnik, I'm a beetnik, geddit, a beet-nik?" Shaggy laughed as he showed off the shirt. Daphne's eyes watered again this time for a different reason.

Velma returned with the promised book and was surprised to see Daphne staring at Shaggy wearing one of _her_ what-on-earth-are-you-doing-Fred expressions so she walked up to find out what was going on.

"What's up Velms, I've never seen _you_ pull a face like that in your body…" Velma turned to see what Daphne was staring at "Whoa, what on earth is Shaggy wearing?"

"Just when you think you know someone" said Daphne quietly as Shaggy went off to get changed

"Just you wait till you've been dating him for a while; you'll soon get one of those expressions for yourself. I bet your mother has a look like that reserved for your father." replied Velma smiling "I've been dating Fred for years so I've got quite a collection"

"But Daph" replied Daphne "I've known Shaggy _all_ my life, how come I've never known about this… this beet thing?" Daphne stopped and gave a little smile "Still he did look cute in that t-shirt."

"Vel-ma's in lo-ve" said Velma in a sing-song voice "You'll get used to it. Here's the book by the way"

Fred returned with a couple of bags and dumped them down by the door "Was Shaggy wearing something different?" asked Fred looking like he couldn't quite believe what he had just seen, before the girls could reply the phone rang again "I'll get it" he said while everyone else wandered off to start packing.

"Well that was odd" said Fred putting down the phone a while later "We have another case, well the same case in Beetsville but from a different perspective. The first call was from the Mayor, that call was from the McCoy farm asking for help in clearing their name. It seems that they are being blamed for the problems in the town."

"Speaking of which you haven't actually told us what is going on there Fred" replied Shaggy

"It seems that all the farms bar the McCoy farm are having all of their crops stolen. Farm after farm is being cleared out. The town is fairly self-sufficient in many things but now they are having to import many things from out-of-town. The local economy is really being hit hard." explained Fred.

"So how are the crops being stolen? Vegetable rustlers perhaps?" said Velma

"The rumour is that there is a large creature called 'The Gobbler' going around doing it..." started Fred

"Hold it right there Fred. By large creature I assume you mean 'monster'" said Shaggy

"Reah ronster" said Scooby

"No Shag, just a large creature, not a monster, they never said monster" replied Fred with a smile

"Just what does it look like?" asked Shaggy suspiciously

"No one has had a clear view of it as the thefts all happen at night like emm Daph said" replied Fred "What they have seen is the odd glimpse of a tall shape, foot prints and the sound it makes 'gobble gobble gobble' that's all."

"Just how tall is the 'shape'?" said Shaggy sharing nervous glances with Scooby

"Above average" said Fred weakly

"How big?" said Shaggy

"Nearly 10 feet tall" said Fred

"Rand rhe rolour?" asked Scooby

"Bright red" replied Fred glumly

"Wo-hoo! Scoob we broke the code! It is a monster!" exclaimed Shaggy as he and Scooby danced arm in arm around the place

"Ronster!, Rit's a Ronster! Rehe-he-he" laughed Scooby "Re roke the rode!"

"It's good to see that you two are so up to dealing with this case" replied Fred with a smile while Daphne and Velma tried hard to hide their amusement

Shaggy and Scooby stopped dead in their tracks "Awww man! Fred got us again." said Shaggy then he sighed "Better get some more Scooby Snacks Scoob"

"Reah, rig ronster reans roads rof racks" replied Scooby as the two of them headed to the snack cupboard.

"Never mind Fred, that nearly worked" smiled Velma "Let's start loading the van."

Shaggy was sitting in the van packing the sacks and other items he and Scooby had deemed essential for the case when he saw Daphne heading towards him with a big pile of books

"At least I can see over the books for a change" she smiled "Just stash these books in the back Shaggy, thanks" said Daphne as she walked toward the van carry a huge pile of books.

"Zoinks! Man why are your books so heavy?" as he reached out to take them.

Daphne handed over the pile of books but fumbled the handover and one fell...

"They aren't that OWOWOW! My Foot! I forgot that Daphne had longer arms" shouted Daphne holding her foot "OK Shag, some of them _are_ heavy. You sort the books out I'm just going to get the last of the things Daphne has got for me to bring."

Shaggy was sitting in the van sorting out Velma's books when his cell-phone rang "Yes Velms?"

"_Shag, can you come to Daphne's room? I seem to have trapped myself in her wardrobe. If you see Daphne on your way throw something soft at her for me please."_

Meanwhile Velma was having her own clothing crisis as she worked through Velma's wardrobe "Oh let's see I could wear orange, orange or orange, hmm what goes with orange? I know orange... I DON'T LIKE WEARING ORANGE!" finally she found some T-shirts that were not orange. Daphne was determined to take her new body clothes shopping when they got to Beetsville. She felt it was her duty to help the local economy, and Velma's wardrobe.

"Budge up Shag... Ah! OW! Who put the door frame there" said Daphne clutching her head. Shaggy got out of the Mystery Machine and checked her head.

"Just a bump Velms, you should feel OK soon"

"That never happened before when I got into the van" said Daphne rubbing her head "Is it Daph's curse again?"

"Don't think so, you probably just forgot that you're a lot taller in Daph's body"

"I hope so" she replied, the encounter with the wardrobe had got her woried.

"All settled?" asked Fred from the driving seat

"Yes Fred" they all chorused

"Got everything we need?"

"Yes Fred" they all chorused a bit flatter second time around

"Doors locked and windows locked?"

"Yes Fred" they all chorused with less enthusiasm

"OK then did we pack..."

"FRED!" they all shouted

"Just get going already" said Daphne

"OK then" said Fred and started the van and went to pull out of the driveway

"Oh jinkies Fred! Wait! I forgot to pack my field science kit" said Daphne

"I forget to get my make-up" wailed Velma

Fred rested his head on the steering wheel. Ten minutes later after everyone had gone and retrieved something else from the house they were ready again.

"OK all set?" asked Fred again, Scooby whispered in Shaggy's ear

"Like man Scoob needs to go to the bathroom" he whispered

"Actually, that sounds like a good idea" said Velma

Once again Fred was sitting in an empty van "Next time I swear we're taking separate vehicles" he muttered

As soon as everyone was in and the doors were closed Fred floored the accelerator before anyone could say anything causing Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne to slide into a heap in the back

"Shaggy! Remember the hands off rule." yelled Daphne "Especially there!"

"Hey! What about the 'no-elbows-Shaggy's-ear' rule?" he replied "I'm _trying_ to get my hands off. Now you got your hands off!" he wailed

"Scooby!" shouted Daphne angrily.

Velma shook her head and smiled, who needed an in-car entertainment system when you had those three in the back.

Once everyone was untangled the rest of journey was relatively uneventful though Daphne did manager to get herself locked in a service station rest-room. For the last few miles both Shaggy and Scooby had their heads out the window, open mouthed with their tongues hanging out

"You're right Scoob, this is fun. Velms? Daph? Wanna have a go?" said Shaggy

"Did you hear anything?" said Velma looking anywhere but a Shaggy and Scooby.

"Nope, didn't hear a thing"replied Daphne holding her head in her hands. All of a sudden there was a 'zoinks!' from outside the van

"What's up Shag?" said Daphne looking out the window next to them "Oh jinkies" she whispered. For mile after mile there was nothing but empty fields, all freshly harvested.

Finally they got into town "We're here gang!" said Fred as he parked the van outside city hall.

Daphne got out of the van, tripped and fell flat on her face, she looked up to see a pair of high-heel shoes

"Welcome to Beetsville, I'm Mrs Rödbetor the Mayor of the town and you _must_ be Daphne Blake."


	4. A One Beet Town

They has barely got past the introductions when the mayor started to pontificate on the case "I am sure that the McCoys are behind this, their farm is the only one that has not been affected plus they were unhappy about loosing last years Miss Beet contest. I'm looking to you to find the evidence of their…"

"Mrs Rödbetor," interrupted Daphne "you cannot simply pick the conclusion you want then select the evidence that will support your pre-judgement. That's not how to proceed with cases; you let the evidence guide you. It's like the scientific method, a continuous cycle of theory, prediction, experiment, observation leading to theory and so on."

"Thought she was supposed to be the brainy one" said the mayor pointing at Velma who had crossed her arms and was giving the mayor a hard stare

"She is, but I'm no dummy either. Just because I look pretty doesn't mean I only have sawdust up here." replied Daphne proudly pointing at her head.

"Well that's how the media…" replied the Mayor defensively

"You shouldn't believe everything you read about either of us in the papers Mayor Rödbetor" said Daphne more kindly than before "They always present us as cardboard cut-out characters. None of them are very realistic or flattering. Don't worry Mayor Rödbetor we will get to the bottom of this, irrespective of who is behind it."

"Well OK then, the McCoys are not exactly flavour of the month around here so keep that in mind when asking questions. You'd best get yourselves checked into the hotel. I've arranged the meetings as you asked, see you all in a couple of hours" said the Mayor and with that she walked off.

"Not exactly the best start" said Fred "but at least we know who the main suspects are."

"Yes, not the McCoys" replied Daphne "that would be too easy. Anyway lets get to the hotel."

"Scooby wants to know when it's lunch time" asked Shaggy "and can we get a bite to eat on the way to the meetings"

"If you must" said Velma

Velma came up to Daphne as they walked to into the hotel "Velms, thanks I'm quite touched by how you stood up for me and yourself."

"It's true Daph, you are no dummy, sure I'm 'the brain' but that doesn't make you or any of the others, stupid." said Daphne "besides her attitude was getting on my nerves."

"Well lets hurry up, the boys have already checked in" said Velma "if we get there in time they can carry the bags up to the rooms."

"And your name Miss?" said the check-in clerk looking at Daphne

"I'm Daphne Blake" said Daphne "This is such a wonderful hotel, it looks so full of character. I just can't wait to see how nice my room is" then gave the elderly man her sweetest smile.

"If I'm in a broom cupboard you are in real trouble Dinkley" muttered Velma to Daphne as they went upstairs. The gang went to their rooms, Fred and Shaggy had rooms opposite to each other, Velma's was next to Fred and Daphne had a room at the far corner. The boys were happy with their rooms, Velma was puzzled why the curtains in her room were closed.

"See Daph" said Daphne opening the curtains "you have a nice view of the water-tower" then quickly dashed out of the room so as to avoid the pillow Velma threw in her direction, and headed for her room. She opened the door, Shaggy helped carry her luggage inside then she the locked the door after Shaggy had gone to get unpacked. She didn't want to be on the receiving end of any more vengeful pillows. Looking around the room Daphne was impressed, it was light, airy and had beautiful furniture much of the furniture in the room was made out of antique oak.

"Well I've got the best room for once" said Daphne to herself as she walked into her hotel room. She wondered how many other upgrades she could get by pulling Daphne's 'smile sweetly' trick. She been planning to upgrade her microscope soon, perhaps she could try for an electron microscope and did a few practice smiles in the mirror but quickly got unsettled and stopped. She then looked around "Wow that's a beautiful old steamer trunk" she said looking at the antique iron-bound wooden trunk at the foot of the bed.

Daphne couldn't resist opening trunk but found it to be disappointingly empty except for a very old newspaper lying at the bottom. _What a find_ she thought _this must be decades old, perhaps it's a clue_ and she reached inside to pick it up.

"Whoa!" she said and fell in to the trunk

Thump went Daphne, slam went the lid and click went the lock.

"Oh... jinkies!" exclaimed Daphne. She considered her situation, she was locked in a steamer trunk, inside her locked hotel room. Her arms were underneath and her legs folded back on themselves without the room to turn around. She was stuck in that position until one of the gang realised she was missing.

"Shaggy! Scooby! HELP!" shouted Daphne. After what seemed like an eternity she heard the door to her room open.

"Da... I mean Velms, are you in here?" came Fred's muffled voice

"I'm in here, please get me out!" she shouted in reply

"Raphne's rin rhere" she heard Scooby's right next to the trunk scratching at the lid.

"Good work Scoob. Hand on Velms we'll get you out" she could hear the sound of the lid being worked on and felt the box shit slightly

"Uh, like it's stuck Velms. Velms I mean Daph, can you pick this lock?" said Shaggy

"I'll try" said Velma

Velma heard the sound of clicking and scraping "Got it!" all of a sudden there was daylight and fresh air.

"Jinkies, I can breath again. Thanks everyone it was getting stuffy in there." said Daphne as Fred and Shaggy helped her out of the trunk

"Did anyone do this to you Velma?" said Fred looking around to see if there was anything missing

"I don't think so" replied Daphne "I was simply reaching in for that old newspaper like this...whooooh!" thump... slam…click. To her credit she carried on as if nothing had happened albeit in a more muffled tone of voice "...when I slipped and fell in, the impact must have caused the lid to shut with enough force that it activated the lock, And then I started shouting GET ME OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

"Warned you Velms" said Velma as she began to pick the lock again "You have to be careful around things like that in my body."

Half an hour later, the gang was ready to start exploring the town. Fred and Daphne were to go to the police station and Shaggy, Scooby and Velma were going to city hall. They left the hotel and parted company. Fred and Daphne started to walk down Main Street, discussing what they would be looking for in the police reports of the farm robberies. As they walked down the road they passed a small diner, from inside a gang of people noticed the pair and their leader gave an evil smile.


	5. Unwelcome Reunion

"Hey Red look over there" said one member of the gang

"What... well, well, well if it isn't everyone's favourite stuck-up rich-kid Daphne Blake. What's she doing in this neck of the woods?" said Red Herring.

"Dunno Red, where's the poison dwarf?" said the first gang member.

"She'll be skulking around somewhere nearby no doubt" replied Red

"Got any ideas?" said another.

"Yeah, let's go old-school on little miss posh and I think a little trip down memory lane is in order for the dwarf."

Unaware that they had been noticed Fred and Daphne arrived at the police station where the duty officer took them to see the officer overseeing the investigations, a Captain Burak.

"Remember, you're Daphne, so don't over do the Velma part Velms." whispered Fred

"Daphne's not stupid Fred" whispered Daphne through gritted teeth.

"I know, sorry I phrased that badly, what I meant was try to say things like Daphne would" he replied

Before she could reply they were introduced to the Captain "Mr Jones, Miss Blake, glad to meet you, I'm Captain Burak."

"Thanks for seeing us Captain" said Fred and he and Daphne shook hands with the Captain.

"No trouble at all, I've got all the available case information for you here and have got summaries that you can take with you" he replied handing them a folder and pointing them to a table on which rested many documents and a couple of boxes each of which had the word 'evidence' stencilled on it.

"What's your take on this Captain?" asked Daphne.

"Well the crops are taken on the night they ripen, some folks have managed to harvest their crops that night but most have just heard a loud 'gobble, gobble gobble' rushed outside to see most of their crops gone and these strange footprints in the ground. There is a cast and some photos of the footprints in the evidence box on the table."

"All the farms except the McCoy's" said Fred "and is that what's making people suspect them?"

"Yes, that and the fact that the footprints all seem to head in the general direction of their farm, they don't go all the way as the creature seems to walk on the roads so the mud soon wears off. Plus they have never really fitted in round here. They have had run-ins with many of the other farmers round here over the years, especially the Hatfield's, but that seems to have petered out in the past few years."

"So do you think the McCoys are behind this?" asked Daphne

"Well I'm ninety-nine percent sure that the McCoys are behind this but there's that one percent of doubt that I just can't put my finger on." explained Captain Burak "which is why we haven't done anything yet and why you are here."

"Yes, Velma expressed the same kind of thoughts" replied Daphne "we often see that on the cases we handle. Are you alright Captain? You look a little uncomfortable at the moment."

"No offence Miss Blake but we were kind of hoping that Miss Dinkley would have come along, as, well..." he looked a bit sheepish "we're all big fans of hers." A huge smile spread over Daphne's face, to Fred the smile was unmistakably Velma's, a fact he found surprisingly unsettling.

_Jinkies, I have a fan club! _ she thought, _I have got to get back into my body before we leave and right now I have got to stop grinning like an idiot and say something. _After a few seconds thought she was able to fashion a Daphne-esq reply.

"I'll tell Velma, I'm sure she'll be thrilled. That usually would have been the case but I kind of started out on a wrong foot with the mayor so we felt it would be better if I stayed out of her way for a while"

The Captain laughed "Yeah, that's Rödbetor for you, she's OK once you know how to work with her, she work really hard for the town but just has a way of pressing people's buttons. But I must say this you are very different from how the media portrays you Miss Blake, in a good way."

"Thank you Captain" she replied

"Well I'll leave you folks to read through the documents, I'm just over there if you have any questions" and with that he left and Fred and Daphne sat down and began to read.

A few blocks away Shaggy, Velma and Scooby arrived at the town hall for a meeting with the mayor and were quickly ushered into her office.

"So the other two off for a smooch-fest?" asked Rödbetor getting up from behind her desk. Shaggy could hear Velma give a sharp intake of breath

"Fred and Daphne are professionals" said Velma icily "they have a meeting with Captain Burak right now after that we will be reviewing the evidence together."

"Hey, I'm just kidding" replied the mayor "You folks need to lighten up a bit"

Shaggy decided that it was time to intervene; he could pick up the tones of a very annoyed Daphne from Velma's voice causing Scooby to look for a place to hide.

"Like Mayor Rödbetor you said you had some historical background to this case that you wanted to show us."

"Yep, it's the history of the problems various people have had with the McCoy's over the years." Shaggy and Velma got out some notepads as the mayor went thought a large slice of the town's history. Despite her initially annoying behaviour it was clear to both of them that Rödbetor knew her stuff when it came to the town's history and the impact this was having on the town.

"Usually the local stores get much of what they sell from the local farms and the entire supply of beet for the beet festival is locally grown. This year we have to import a lot, it's sucking money out of the town. Fortunately we managed to secure a new supplier from a nearby town. Plus the beet festival is safe, people are guarding their fields and Sveklagrad has said they will supply extra beet if it is needed."

_Very fortunate, very fortunate_ indeed thought Daphne, she felt a odd sensation, like there was an inner Velma telling her something but it was gone before she could focus her mind on it. To the mayor and Shaggy, Velma appeared to be contemplating something, though she twirled her pencil in the way that Daphne does.

"Man that was lucky" said Shaggy distracted by Velma's unnatural pencil twirling "I've always wanted to go to the festival, plus this is the only place we can get those beet flavoured Scooby Snacks." At this point the mayor's face lit up. A couple of hours later they left with an armful of souvenirs. Shaggy had impressed the mayor by his knowledge of beet cooking and the town's beet festival so they parted on a friendly note, the previous difficult exchanges more-or-less forgotten.

After their respective meetings the gang convened in a local diner to have lunch and review the evidence they had collected so far. "Sure the evidence _appears_ to indicate that the McCoy's are behind this, but that does not mean that we can make an a priori assumption of guilt on their part." said Daphne "Coincidence does not equal causality. Captain Burak has similar suspicions."

"That just sounds so wrong coming out of my mouth" whispered Velma to Fred "I swear she's speaking like this to wind me up. And don't talk to me about her fan club." she folded her arms in a bit of a huff.

Shaggy glanced up at the window "Zoinks!" he exclaimed almost jumping out of his chair.

"What's up?" asked Fred as the others looked in the direction Shaggy was looking in, there was nobody there.

"I, I, like I thought I saw someone we know looking at us through the window" he stammered

"Someone we know?" asked Fred suspiciously

"Yeah, but not in a good way" he replied nervously "like in a bad way, bad as in non-good"

"We get the picture Shag. Well who was it?" asked Daphne

"Didn't get a good look at them, like I was too busy being scared" he replied

"Never mind" she replied in an exasperated tone of voice "Eat up, we have the Lovell's farm to visit this afternoon. They were pretty much cleared-out yesterday so the evidence should be fresh." A few minutes later they were ready to go, Fred paid the bill and they causally headed out. A figure had been sitting at the table behind the gang paying careful attention to what they were saying. As soon they had gone he made a quick call on his cell-phone "Red? They're off to the Lovell's farm... Yeah, little miss posh is going as well... see ya there Red."

They arrived at the Lovell's farm and spent quite some time interviewing the farmer and the various farmhands, some of which had heard and even caught a glimpse of the creature. After that they examined some of the areas that had been harvested by The Gobbler. Daphne had been crouched down studying the same few feet of ground for some time now; eventually she went back to the Mystery Machine and returned with various magnifying glasses and a powerful torch. Velma almost had a fit when Daphne just lay down in the dirt and began to carefully examine the same patch of ground again.

"Clothes, those, those are some of my best clothes!" she complained to Fred who was doing his best not to laugh, she ran to Shaggy "Look Shaggy, she's your girlfriend, please get Velma to get up or at least change. I've got some co-ordinated farm wear in stashed in the Mystery Machine. Please Shaggy!" she pleaded

"Hey gang, look at this!" shouted Daphne pointing at a patch of ground "There is something _under_ the footprints." They all rushed over.

"Under? Like the footprints are hiding something" Velma mused, the imminent peril her clothes were in momentarily forgotten.

"Spot-on Daph!" said Daphne looking up at Velma with a huge Velma-like grin on her face which caused the rest of the gang to give an involuntary shudder.

"With too much coincidence for it to be just as random coincidence?" said Fred picking up the line of argument.

"Yes. Shaggy be a dear and get my cast making kit from the van please" asked Daphne, Shaggy dashed off a few minutes later they had a freshly made plaster cast of the suspicious area.

"Hmmm" said Fred looking closely at the cast "these look like tyre prints underneath, wide low-pressure tyres."

"Yes, once you know what to look for it's quite obvious, are you thinking what I'm thinking Fred?" asked Daphne

"Could be, but we need to visit a farm that has not been raided to be sure" he replied.

"I'll take this back to the van while the rest of you see if you can see any other similar looking tyre-track/footprint combos." said Daphne as she carried that cast back to the Mystery Machine.

"Semi-circles Daph, I mean Velms?" said Fred shaking his head at his mistake

"Semi-circles" nodded Daphne with a smile.

A smile crept across Velma's face, usually the Fred-Velma unspoken exchange of ideas was completely lost on the rest of the gang, this time Daphne understood it as well "Jeepers, semi-circles, of course" she whispered "whoops, I mean jinkies" and she joined in the search while Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other in confusion.

Daphne had just finished putting the cast in a storage locker and closed the door, she looked around at the sound of a couple of cars pulling up nearby. One of the front passenger windows was wound down a young woman leant out "Hey! Excuse me miss, could you give me some directions please?"

"Sure, I'll try" replied Daphne and she headed over to the car "I'm not that familiar with the area but I'll do the best I... hey!" all of a sudden the rear passenger door opened, hands reached out and grabbed hold of Daphne, the woman in the front passenger seat got out and helped to push her into the car. Two motorbikes roared past and stopped next to the Mystery Machine, the riders leapt off, leaving the engines running, and set to work on the van's tyres.

(A/N Red Herring, the gangs erstwhile antagonist, is the school bully from the series A Pup Named Scooby Doo)


	6. The 3:10 to Beetsville

"Help! Shaggy! Help!" screamed Daphne as she was bundled into a car which then sped away followed by two other cars. The gang spun round to see what was going on and saw a couple of figures crouching next to the Mystery Machine.

"Hey! Get away from our van!" shouted Velma as she and Shaggy ran towards the Mystery Machine. Two figures leapt onto motorbikes, pausing only to throw a few stones at them, one of which hit Shaggy in the forehead stunning him briefly, before they drove away after the convoy of cars. Velma gently held Shaggy as he was swaying slightly; a few seconds later he shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"Zoinks no! They've let the tyres down!" wailed Shaggy as he stared helplessly at the receding trail of dust.

"Did you get a good look at them?" asked Fred, he noticed that Shaggy look pale and was shaking slightly. Fred went up to Shaggy and laid a hand on his shoulder "You OK Shag? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"One of them looked like Red Herring" said Shaggy quietly

"Red Herring? As in Red Herring the bully from school?" said Velma, Shaggy quietly nodded, unable to draw his attention away from the direction the convoy had gone "Oh jeepers, poor Velma, he was always picking on her"

"Emm Daph, you're Velma at the moment, they think they have Daphne" said Fred

"Well oh _jinkies_ then" replied Velma testily "he was always pestering me, Daphne for a date. Look Fred he's got it in for all of us!" Velma walked over to the van and rested against it holding herself, inside Daphne felt sick to the stomach, whilst she was certainly worried for her body and it's current driver, she knew that Red had developed a particularly malicious streak when it came to the bullying of Velma over the years and as she was in Velma's body she was now, officially, scared.

"That's the Herring's gang all right" said a farmhand running up to the gang "They've been a nuisance round these parts for a while, but they've never stooped this low. 'Bout time the sheriff ran them out of town. I'll call him now, there's an air compressor in that barn over there for your tyres." He pointed to a nearby barn as he ran off to the farmhouse. Fred and Shaggy ran to get the air compressor out of the barn and Velma checked the Mystery Machine for any further damage.

Before she knew what had happened they had Daphne tightly bound, gagged and blindfolded. _How does Daph put up with this?_ Velma wondered _Oh yes, Fred._

"That should keep our little escape artist quiet for a while eh Red?" said one voice

_Red as in Red Herring?_ thought Velma and her heart sank, _well at least he only hates Daphne, I'd be in real trouble if they knew who was inside._

All of a sudden Velma felt her nostrils pinched tightly closed and no amount of shaking would free them, she felt like she would pass out soon from the lack of air.

"You kept turning that posh little nose of yours up at me and the boys in school Blake well now its payback time." said Red, his voice unmistakable. She squealed in pain as her nose was viciously twisted then let go and she sucked in as much air as she could.

They travelled for long enough that Velma lost all track of time, she was able to guess that they were going up hill, which she regarded as an ominous sign, but most of what was happening at the moment would fit into that category, even when the passed round a bag of chips the sound of the packed being opened caused her to jump out of her skin much to her captors amusement. Eventually they came to a stop and she was dragged out of the car

"It's your lucky day Daph, now you get carried by a real man rather than that wuss Fred you usually hang around with" and with that Red picked her up and dumped her over his shoulder and set off for who knows where. _Scooby Doo where are you!_ She mentally screamed _Jinkies I'm so scared I'd settle for a rescue by the Creeper right now._ All of a sudden she was dropped, before she had time to scream she hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

"Do you like trains Daphne? 'Cause you've got a date with one." laughed Red. Velma felt herself being manhandled across the ground and tied face-up to something, she could feel metal at her head and feet, her hands were pressed into some rough weathered wood and they dug painfully into her back.

_Oh junkies I'm being tied to some train tracks!_ thought Velma.

"See you later Daphy-waffy, we've nobbled pretty-boy Fred's precious van. So you'll be leaving here as a hood ornament of the 3:10 train. It's about 2:45 now."

The gang laughed at the sight of Daphne desperate struggles, her screams reduced to faint mewings

"Can't hear you" laughed Red "So neither will the rest of your looser friends, nor will the train driver. We're on a bend so he won't see you till it's too late." and with that they left.

_The romance of train travel_ she thought grimly as tried to sit up to relieve some of the pressure on her hands, but found she had been lashed too well to the sleeper, forcing her head to stay on the track. _Don't panic Velma; perhaps I have access to some of Daph's escapology skills._ She spent some time analysing her situation _right, let's loose the blindfold_ she thought a quick wiggle of her head against the track she achieved that goal. Blinking briefly as her eyes adjusted to the light she could see that Red had been correct about the bend. She realised that she was in a steep sided valley of some kind, so virtually no noise would escape, _not like I can make much noise at the moment_. Looking at herself she tried to spy a starting point for her escape... there! She discovered that she had been tied to the track by a continuous piece of rope, she managed to wriggle her feet free which introduced some slack into the rope, which in turn made it easier for her to work her way out. Velma found it easier not to actively think about what she was doing but instead try to let Daphne's procedural memory come to the fore and do the work. After what seemed like an eternity she was able to wiggle away from the track. _What a relief_, she thought, _I'm free from the track, next I need to get myself free_ and she hopped away as best she could to find a place to hide just in case Red's gang returned.

A short way ahead there appeared to be a series of large boulders so she headed in their direction. Just as she got behind one there was what sounded like a train approaching in the distance but something didn't sound right so Velma decided to stay hidden. The boulders and the side of the cutting didn't look suitable to quickly abrade the rope but looking around she saw a couple of pieces of broken flint on the floor, she eased herself to the ground and fumbled around for them. _I hope there are sharp_ thought Velma began to work on the ropes holding her wrist behind her back. Soon she felt the ropes begin to give and a short while later gave a muffled grunt as her hands became free, her fingers began to tingle as the blood returned. The sound of the approaching train grew louder so she peaked out from the boulder. Looking round she saw not a train come round the corner but Herrings gang on a handcar. They stopped and stared at the coils of rope on the track and the absence of Daphne.

"Damn, how did she get free?" shouted Red

"She can't have gone far, she's in real trouble this time." said another and they dismounted and began to search for her.

Velma knew she didn't have much time, and went to cut her ankles free to she could run, everything else would have to wait. Her eyes darted around for a place to hide _if I was still in my old body I could hide in that small cave, there again if I was in my old body, I'd still be tied to the track, or worse_ she thought bitterly. Then she saw a slightly larger hole in the side of the valley wall and dashed for it. She wriggled inside then realised too late that she was on a slope covered by loose earth and stones and began to slide, her legs scrabbled for some purchase to slow her descent and she managed a more-or-less controlled landing after falling a few feet then immediately scrabbled into a dark corner had stayed still trying not to breath too loud and wishing that her heart would beat more quietly. Her heartbeat sounded deafening and she felt that it alone could easily give the game away.

Once it was clear that no-one was following her she took the bits of flint and after a short spell of flint knapping had made the edge sharp enough again to cut the rest of the ropes.

"Oh that was horrible" she whispered to herself once she'd removed her gag. She looked at her hands "Jinkies, Daph's going to kill me, I've ruined her nails." Going back up wasn't really an option, she'd mastered walking and running in Daphne's body, but not climbing and now wasn't the time to try, plus she suspected that Red Herring and his gang were still on the prowl up top. The only option was to follow the tunnel and hope that it lead to the outside, preferably somewhere safe. She made her way through the tunnel until, thankfully, she saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. This unfortunately messed up her night vision so she almost tripped over the something on the floor. She stopped and examined the object.

"A truck battery? A high-current high-drain battery, hmmmm perhaps this is a clue" she pondered aloud. The odd old car battery you might expect here, possibly, but these were specialist batteries, and quite a new one the look of it. She looked towards the end of the tunnel, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw that one wall was lined with batteries, all connected together. "Now this is a clue if ever there was one." All of a sudden she became afraid that she was about to be ambushed, or worse, so made her way as quickly and carefully out of the tunnel as she could. When she got to the cave mouth, a few hindered yards in front of her nearly ripe maize plants stretched for as far as the eye could see in either direction. "Thank goodness for GPS" she muttered and she dashed for the safety of the plants while taking out her mobile phone. A few minutes later she had the position and had called the gang.

A nerve jangling hour later the Mystery Machine finally pulled up to the location provided by Daphne, the door opened and Daphne bolted inside knocking Velma and Shaggy over in the process. Scooby closed and door and the van headed off while Daphne clung tightly to Velma and Shaggy

"That... was... terrifying" whispered Daphne as she recounted what had happened to her. Finally she had began calm down and looked up and her face brightened slightly I did find a clue" then she whispered "but I also ruined your nails Daph"

"Doesn't matter Velma, nails grow back" Velma replied gallantly thought her face told a different story.

"Like, what was the clue Velms?" asked Shaggy in an attempt to take Velma's mind off the past few hours and Daphne from the state of her nails

"Batteries, specialist high-current batteries, loads of them in a cave opposite where you picked me up." replied Daphne as Velma set to work on her nails with an emergency nail repair kit that had magically appeared from nowhere.

"And where we picked you up is the farm where we will be doing a sake-out tonight" called Fred from the front "Their maize crop will ripen in a day or so. We'll take some plaster casts and photos tonight."

"Brilliant Fred, that's just what we need. But first can I go and clean-up, even I feel like I need a change of clothes now." smiled Daphne "I think we should have this case wrapped up in a day or so at this rate. The pieces are starting to come together."

They came to a look-out point on the way back to town. Fred parked the van so they took the opportunity to get a better view of the town and its surroundings. They stood around the Mystery Machine planning tonight's and tomorrow's investigations while Shaggy canvassed opinions on what they should eat tonight and bring with then for the stake-out. Velma noticed that Scooby was staying close to Fred and Shaggy; she thought he'd be close to Velma as Scooby was always quite protective of her, she shrugged away the thought as she was accosted by Shaggy and his menu options. They could see the town of Beetsville laid out before them and heard the gentle sounds of a town settling down for the evening. They got ready to get back into the van but stopped in their tracks as they heard an alien voice carried through the air _gobble, gobble, gobble..._


	7. Oh, you mean THAT monster

"D-d-d-d-did y-y-you hear that Scoob?"

"Rikes! Rhe Robbler"

Scooby darted between Daphne and Velma both held out their arms ready to catch him but he finally jumped into Fred's arms, so unexpected was this that Scooby knocked him over.

"Would the real Velma please put her hand up" said a panicked Shaggy. As soon as Daphne put her hand up he jumped into her arms.

"Too, heavy!" groaned Daphne and then promptly collapsed "have you put on weight Shag? I'm sure you didn't feel this heavy last time I had to do this" said Daphne as she tried to push Shaggy off her "Daph, what do you bench these days?"

"I don't" replied Velma as she helped the pair up "Do you think I could fit into my clothes if I was full of bulging biceps, triceps and other muscles?" Velma made a bicep and felt it, it was as hard as iron "Jeepers Velma, what do _you _bench?"

"One scared boyfriend and his cowardly dog" grunted Daphne, finally managing to push Shaggy off her "though technically that would be arm curls as I tend to carry them when I'm running."

"I bench 220" interjected Fred proudly

"So you keep telling us" they all replied

"Enough of this already Freddie" smiled Daphne "Let's get back to the hotel and get ready for the stake-out"

"Yeah, like can we get a steak in before the stake-out?" asked Shaggy

"Reah, reak-in, reak-in" added Scooby.

"Come on you two gobblers" said Fred as they headed back to the van.

Arriving at the hotel everyone took the opportunity to freshen-up before dinner. Shaggy and Scooby were just leaving their room them they heard a scream from Daphne's room. Shaggy ran over and knocked on her door

"Velms you ok?" he thought her heard a muffled reply so opened the door and went inside. The room was dark, he tried the light switch, nothing happened

"Velms? Velms?" he said quietly "you OK? You in here?" he thought he heard a muffled noise from the wardrobe so carefully headed that over to it. He opened the door to see a trembling Daphne trying to hide under a coat. She sighed with relief when she saw Shaggy

"Am I glad to see you." she said as he helped her out "I was just about to leave when the lights went out and the door wouldn't open. I panicked and when I heard someone at the door I became convinced it was Red and his gang so I hid in the wardrobe but then the door wouldn't open..." Daphne sat down and Shaggy gently massaged her shoulders until he felt the tension subside "This kind of stuff never bothered me before, it must be the effect of being in Daphne's body. I don't know how Daph gets out of bed in the morning let alone do the cases we're on if this is how she is all the time."

A call to reception and the lights in her room were quickly fixed.

"I'll see you downstairs I just want to organise my notes from today and check my emails so see if State U hospital has got some dates for the brain scans I asked for. Could you ask Daph to drop her notes off when she's done?" Daphne blew a kiss at Shaggy as he left the room and turned her attention to the pile of papers on the dresser. Half an hour later Velma went to Daphne's room

"Velms? I brought the notes like you asked..."_ strange, her door is open, but the room is empty, the lights are on, but there's paper all over the floor, oh no..._ Velma was just about to raise the alarm when she heard a familiar noise coming from the steamer trunk at the foot of the bed. Velma gave a wry smile, took out a couple of hair pins from her pocket then headed for the trunk.

They finally all gathered together for dinner in the hotel restaurant. Fred stopped of to arrange for some food to take with them for breakfast the next day then went to their table, already Shaggy and Scooby were tucking into something

"What are you two eating?" asked Fred suspiciously as he sat down next to Shaggy.

"You don't want to know Freddie" said Velma

"Some appetisers the hotel made for us. Beets marinated overnight in 5 Skull Fire Sauce with a marshmallow and sauerkraut reduction, it's a local delicacy" replied Shaggy between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, local to your part of the table." muttered Daphne dryly.

"I'm telling you now Velma" whispered Velma to Daphne "if you ever get married to Shaggy, I'm bringing my own food to the reception."

"Don't worry Daph, the reception is the responsibility of the bride's family, I'll make sure you won't go hungry." whispered Daphne, Velma looked relieved then amused.

"Yes, it's the groom's responsibility for the honeymoon, where do you think Shaggy would pick?"

"I dread to think. I'm banking on a tour of Italy" sighted Daphne wistfully

"Wow that's ambitions, and just _so_ romantic Velma. I though you'd be stuck with a tour of Munchville."

"That over a million different kinds of pizza and pasta dishes?" Daphne raised her eyebrows "Daph, Shag can't beat me at noughts and crosses, I think I can win this one."

The food arrived and the gang settled down for a relaxed meal together, the stresses of the day forgotten for a short while.

"Mmmm that was good" said Daphne patting her stomach "You know, this place is quite nice, the hotel is great and the food is excellent."

"You said it Velms." replied Fred "OK gang, lets get some sleep; we're up in a few hours." Reluctantly they all headed off to be for an even more reluctant very early start.

After a few hours sleep the gang awoke to head out to the farm. Shaggy and Scooby were loading breakfast and other essential supplies into the van while Fred was waiting for the girls in hotel reception. Velma came walking down the stairs, Fred looked up and smiled, for a few seconds he was convinced it was Daphne, indeed Velma moved like Daphne now which confused him. Velma returned his smile and headed over to where he was sitting.

"Oh if I have to free Velma from that that steamer trunk one more time I think I'll scream" said Velma shaking her head and sitting next to Fred "Be honest Fred, when we first started this mystery hunting, was I really that danger prone?"

Fred gave her a little smile "At times Daph, but you got over it and so will Velma. Once you are back in your own bodies things will be back to normal."

"What if we don't Fred, that thought scares me. Every morning when I open my eyes I hope, but that horrible blur... jeepers Fred how does Velma put up with it, I know I can't?" before he could reply Scooby came over. "Oh hello Scooby, are you ready for tonight?" said Velma reaching out to give him a pat on the head but Scooby avoided her and went and sat next to Fred.

"What's up with him?" asked Fred, Velma just shrugged.

Finally they were all ready and headed out to the van. As they walked away from the hotel Fred noticed that a moth had landed on Daphne's back, he reached out to brush the creature away; Daphne she felt faintest of touches against her shoulder.

"Zoinks! Red Herrings got me again!" she shouted and jumped into Shaggy's arms "Don't let him get me Shaggy, please!" she begged.

Fred was frozen, his arm outstretched, he'd barely touched Daphne.

"Velms" said Shaggy quietly as he cradled a trembling Daphne, "it was Fred brushing something off your back."

"Sorry, I just feel so jumpy at times now" she sighed as she got back down

"Especially in the mornings?" asked Velma

Daphne thought for a second "Yes, now you some to mention it I do. You used to feel that way many years ago if I recall." Velma just nodded her head.

A while later, all slightly bleary eyed, they arrived at the farm where they were greeted by the farmer.

"Thanks for coming over kids" said the farmer shaking each one by the hand "I'm Clive, Clive Bietes, you can al call me Clive. I know you had a hard day yesterday so I've had some of the lads keep any eye out for that Herring gang, they won't trouble you folks while you are on my land"

"Thanks Clive" replied a relieved Daphne "I really appreciate that"

"We've got enough trouble here without that pest; the Sheriff is looking for him so hopefully he's long gone. Anyway kids the coffee is on we've all got a long night ahead of us" Clive smiled as their faces lit up at the sound of coffee, tired or not, these kids were in this for the duration. Rödbetor had made a good call, again.

"OK" said Fred, his hand smoothing out a map of the farm "this is the plan that Velma and I have come up with. It's quite simple; we split up but don't look for clues."

"A radical innovation" whispered Velma to Shaggy

Fred cleared his throat then continued "The idea is that we will patrol around the areas of the farm that are ready to be harvested."

"So what are we doing exactly Fred?" asked Velma

"Being obvious Daph." he replied "If the Velmster and I are correct then this should deter the monster or whatever it is."

"You and Fred will take the Mystery Machine and Shaggy, Scooby and I will use one of the farm pick-ups" said Daphne. After a few minutes more discussion the group had agreed the details of where they would go and how they would work with the farmhands who would be acting a lookouts and support.

Velma was standing with the farmer watching Fred and Shaggy get the vehicles ready when a question popped into her mind. "So Clive how is the town getting all of it's food now? I understand from the mayor that this place was fairly self sufficient"

"Well we had a lucky break there, we managed to find a newly opened wholesale food supplier and was looking for business. Doesn't help those who have lost their crops and it's costing more than before but folks are eating OK."

"What about those farms?"

"Well we are a tight community so we're helping each other, most should get though this year but as for next… well some folks are facing the prospect of having to sell some or all of their land. Well not to the McCoys of course they are selling all their crops out of town as people won't touch their food. If you ask me they are behind this, forcing decent folk off their land by ruining their businesses then getting their land on the cheap. Well it won't happen; they'd rather sell to outsiders than the McCoys."

"Hmmmmm" Velma rubbed her chin, inside Daphne could actually feel Velma's sub-conscious working and it was a decidedly odd feeling, like sitting on top of a bubbling cauldron, something was going on down there, she just wasn't sure what, hints of the suspicions and questions touched her conscious mind. "Thanks Clive, we plan to see the McCoys soon, as well as a couple of other places. We try not to leave any stone unturned."

"Well, good luck Miss looks like you are all set."

"Fred, I think there are a few other places we need to visit, I want to see where the food the town is buying is coming from" said Velma as she got into the Mystery Machine.

"OK Daph, we'll sort it out when we are done here."

For the next few hours they drove around the fields being as loud and visible as they could, only returning to the farmhouse for refills of coffee and to deal with the side-effects of drinking so much coffee. They all thought they had heard the odd strange noise and Velma thought she saw a moving shape but all turned out to be dead ends. The only noticeable thing was that Scooby would only sit between Shaggy and Daphne when bribed with Scooby Snacks, but as soon as they were gone, he retreated to the back of the pick-up.

As dawn broke Fred and Velma returned to the farmhouse, parking up they saw the farmer bounding towards them waving his arms in the air with excitement, something had to be up as he was not a person build for bounding anywhere.

"You did it kids!" he gasped "We've had virtually nothing taken, just a few rows on the far field and your friends are taking a look at that right now. Once you're done my boys will start the harvest."

"That's good news Clive, at least we now know that this thing can be stopped" replied Velma.

"Guess Velma managed to keep our own gobblers in check" whispered Fred, Velma stifled a laugh as Fred's cell-phone rang

_Fred, it's Velma, Scooby has found some odd marks in the ground just like we predicted, clear semi-circles of footprints at the end of the harvested rows with the same pattern visible underneath in places. Can you come and have a look and bring the cast kit with you? Shaggy! Scooby! Put those corn cobs down… sorry Fred got to go… Shaggy!_

The gang rendezvoused together and set to work collecting plaster casts of various parts of the round at the end of the harvested and un-harvested rows. At one end they noticed that they had arrived back at the place they had picked up Daphne from after her escape from Herring's gang. Daphne looked carefully at the ground, the morning light casting long shadows on the ground, accentuating features that would be invisible a few hours later.

"Look!" Daphne almost shouted pointing at the ground "There, I can see a long mark in the ground leading from the area of harvested crops to the cave I escaped from. Jinkies Daph" Daphne paused; there was some emotion now in her voice "your eyes are so good."

Velma put her arm round Daphne's waist,

"Well shall my eyes and your brain go check out this clue?"

A couple of minutes later there was a simultaneous cry of jeepers and jinkies from the cave, both girls ran out. Fred was ready for whatever was following them and Shaggy was quickly eyeing up the quickest route to the Mystery Machine, just in case. Nothing followed them, both looked wide-eyed with excitement they ran up to the rest of the gang and both tried to speak at once.

"The batteries are all gone, lots of regular footprints and big footprints everywhere"

"There are those tyre prints, regular tyre print and those big footprints all over the place"

"So?" asked Fred

"My guess is that this monster is a load of old hooey" said Daphne decisively as they walked back to the Maize "It's probably someone just wearing big shoes and covering up tyre tracks."

"But, but Velms, we all heard it, we've seen the footprints, people have seen it. Besides harvesting is loud, how come we didn't hear much of anything." complained Shaggy

Daphne turned round and faced the rest of the gang with her back to the maize plants "Look guys, we haven't seen any evidence of an _actual_ monster yet, we have all heard things and seen footprints but those can be faked" said Daphne "Anyone can say..."

"gobble gobble gobble" a voice came from behind her.

"Exactly, thank you Shag" said Daphne

"Did I say something Scoob?" asked a bemused Shaggy  
"Ro" Scooby shook his head.

"Quit fooling with that old ventriloquism act of yours, I heard you throw your voice behind me"

"GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE" went the voice again, this time closer and louder

"OK Shag" said Daphne in frustration as she turned round "I'll look behind me but there is no monster..."

"**GOBBLE! GOBBLE! GOBBLE!**" a huge shape, covered in blood-red fur reared up and towered over Daphne. Its mouth was larger than a persons head, its arms where like tree-trunks with hands bigger than dinner plates. It roared, fixed its tiny dark eyes on Daphne and reached out towards her.

"...there..." her voice was barely audible whisper

"RUN!" shouted Fred


	8. Spitroasted

"Ronster!" yelped Scooby and jumped straight into Velma's arms, he immediately leapt out and ran off yelping.

"Scooby! That's not nice" shouted Velma momentarily distracted by Scooby's behaviour..

"No time Velms" shouted Shaggy as he scooped her up and ran off after Scooby.

Daphne stood there and gazed up at the creature as it filled her field of vision, she new she should run but couldn't quite get her body to respond. Before she knew what was going on she found herself over Fred's shoulder as he set-off after Shaggy with the monster close behind.

"Put me down Fred!" she shouted "I've got my legs back." The monster chased them hither and thither around the Maize field. Each of the gang now on their own two feet, running in different directions and using the Maize plants as cover/

In the confusion Fred and Velma came running out of two different avenues of Maize slap-bang into each other, they sat on the ground stunned as the monster headed towards them. Just before the monster was upon them Shaggy imposed himself between them/.

"Clean-up aisle 6!" he yelled via a megaphone directly into the monsters ear causing it to stop dead in its tracks. Shaggy was wearing a store-assistants outfit, a long white apron, a blue long-sleeve shirt and small blue cap. He stood in front of the monster quickly placing numerous 'wet floor' and 'slippery-surface' signs around Fred and Velma

"I'm sorry Mr Gobbler sir but as you can see we have a dangerous spillage here so we have to close this aisle for you own safety." The monster paused and looked around confused by the sudden turn of events.

"Don't worry sir my assistant will soon have this spillage cleared up" continued Shaggy as Scooby appeared, dressed in a similar outfit, pushing a large shopping cart in which was a shovel and a long-handled dustpan and brush. Scooby used a large dustpan and brush to pick up Fred and place him in the card. Shaggy attempted to engage the creature in small-talk to pass the time.

"Like Mr Gobbler sir, are you looking forward to the Monster Mash Movie Marathon on TV next week?"

The Gobbler roared, waving its fists in the air in frustration

"Zoinks! Obviously prefers Westerns. Scoob, time to close the shop!"

"Rikes!" yelled Scooby, he rapidly picked up Velma with the chovel and unceremoniously dumped her on top of Fred knocking the wind out of them again

"By way of compensation and to thank you for your patience here are a number of corn-cobs covered with our complementary special sauce" Shaggy pressed a number of corn-cobs into the monsters hands and poured copious quantities of a red sauce over them before he and Scooby ran off pushing the trolley in front of them. Fred and Velma clung to each other for dear life as the trolley skidded around a horse trough which appeared before them. The Gobbler quickly at the corn and began to chase after them before it changed direction and dived head first into the horse trough. It emerged a few seconds later looked around and headed after the first sign of movement it saw.

"Stop!" shouted Fred and Velma simultaneously a short while later when the monster was nowhere in sight

"What was in that sauce?" asked Fred getting out of the cart.

"5 Skull Fire Sauce" replied Shaggy "Only the best."

"Well it worked, I got away again!" said Velma almost jumping for joy "This is such a change isn't it Velms? Velma? "Oh no, where's Velma?" her shoulders dropping in frustration.

"Not again" said Fred shaking his head "Velma is not having a good case"

"But shouldn't the monster have got you Velms I mean Daph?" asked Shaggy

Velma signed "It's the Blake family genes at work; they don't seem to care that there is a Dinkley in the driving seat. I know how to deal with them but Velma? I mean have you noticed what has happened to her since we swapped bodies? I actually feel quite safe on a case for a change."

"Not sure if Velma feels the same way in yours. She's not used to being in constant peril" said Fred

"Yeah it's really starting to eat away at her, she's starting to jump at shadows and that's my job." replied Shaggy trying to lighten the mood.

The gang fanned out and followed the many tracks left by the monster.

"That creature was some mover" said Fred looking along the tracks as they vanished in the distance. Fred noticed that Velma was staring at the footprints, just like Velma usually did "Daph, are you OK?".

"The footsteps are quite far apart and deep – that's a clue we can work out how heavy it is and how fast it was travelling" said Velma uncertainly as her conscious mind was filled with diagrams and equations "We can use the same method used for analysing dinosaur tracks" the diagrams seemed to morph themselves onto the scene and the various elements in the equations began to align to the features that needed to be measured.

"Really? You've never been into dinosaurs much Daph" said Fred

"I'm… I'm remembering what Velma remembers" said Velma disorientated by what she was witnessing in her head "It's… no it's gone now" and shook her head, she swallowed slightly at the lingering feeling of uncertainty and exhilaration which remained when the images left her.

"That means Velma can remember what you remember?" replied Fred

"Possibly, it may need certain events to recall the precise memories. Jeepers that was so weird" There was a yelp from nearby.

"Guys, Scooby has picked up the scent" Shaggy called out from a little way ahead "This way" They looked in the direction where Scooby had indicated they could see some kind of structure and a large red shape moving about around it.

As the approached they could see the structure was some kind of raised platform about 6 foot wide, at either end of the platform was an identical pole about 5 feet high, balancing between them was another thinner metallic looking rod with a crank handle at one end. A long bumpy shape was attached to the rod it appeared to be under lit by a red glow coming from the underneath it. The wind carried a desperate wailing noise and a familiar smell. They could see the monster move along the length of the rod it appeared to be putting something on the ground causing the red glow to increase in intensity and shaking the contents of a container over the length of the shape. It then returned to the crank and began to slowly turn handle causing the rod to rotate. They all picked up on the growing panic in the wailing noise.

Velma sniffed the air "Hey smells like someone's having a barbeque, but who would be having one this early in the morning" she looked over at Shaggy, his face grew pale and she could see the panic in his eyes.

"Zoinks no!" he cried out then set off as fast as he could for the platform leaving the others behind.

"Raggy!" Scooby ran after him followed by Fred and Velma.

The gang ran towards the platform shouting and waving for all they were worth. The monster saw the gang and ran off leaving the bumpy shape on the metal staring into the red glow, the panicked whine reached fever pitch, as they approached they could see why. There was Daphne, tied to a spit a few feet over a bed of lit coals, a large orange jammed in her mouth, the sight caused Velma to stop in her tracks

"Is, is that me being spit roasted?" asked Velma not believing what she was seeing

"C'mon Daph" yelled Fred as he ran past "Stop staring and start running"

They arrived at the platform still not quite believing their eyes, quickly they all kicked the coals away from beneath Daphne. Once that was done Shaggy knelt down and removed the orange.

"Was I really going to be roasted and eaten?" said Daphne trembling, sweat glistening on her face

"No, there were not enough coals to do that" replied Fred as he and Shaggy lifted the spit from it's supports and laid it gently to the platform "I think the intention was to scare you" they all set to work freeing her from the spit.

"Well it worked!" shouted Daphne as she sat up, holding onto herself in shock"I need a hug… oh jinkies"

"What's wrong Velms?" said Velma; she could see the confusion on Daphne's face

Daphne motioned for her to come closer which she did.

"Me, Velma needs Shaggy, but your body is demanding Fred" whispered Daphne

"Jeepers I had the same kind of thing happen to me, I saw a clue then all the ideas about dinosaur tracks and equations came flooding into my mind"

"I don't see Fred 'that way' but your body most certainly does, so very much…" continued Daphne still too flustered to pay much attention to Velma's reply.

"Yes, yes, Velma, shhhh" said an embarrassed Velma motioning with her hands for Daphne to quieten down.

"The feeling has gone now" said Daphne as she calmed down slightly "Can I go to…"

"Hug away Velms, Shaggy's all yours" said Velma _though I can see now what you see in him_ thought Daphne feeling the desire and jealousy that Velma's body felt as she witnessed Daphne embrace Shaggy while he comforted and calmed her.

"Thanks Daph. I know about selfish genes, but yours are just plain vindictive." said Daphne as she stepped down off the platform "Urgh I've got mixed herbs in my hair _and_ down my back. Still olive oil is supposed to be good for the skin."

Distracted by her seasoning Daphne tripped over and fell flat on her face

"I've just found a clue" Daphne's muffled voice rose from the floor "Here's some fur from the monster but it feels synthetic" her hand held up a tuft of red fur.

A while later Fred, Shaggy and Scooby were sitting at a picnic table outside the farmhouse waiting for the girls to join them, Velma had taken Daphne off to get freshened up and to try to get the the smell of smoke out of her clothes, later they were planning to buy the town out of chocolate and ice-cream as comfort food was most definitely needed after that. Shaggy knew the girls would be away for a while and took the opportunity to have a talk with Fred

"Like Fred, I've got a question."

"What's that Shag? I guess it's about the girls" he replied, Shaggy nodded

"What do we do if they stay in each others body?"

"What do _they_ do you mean?"

"No, what do _we_ do? How do we handle the fall out? To me Velma is the most beautiful woman in the world, and I guess you feel the same about Daphne. But who do you love Daphne the person, Daphne the body, or the two together?"

"The two together" replied Fred nodding, he could see where Shaggy was coming from now.

"But now you can only pick one. Fred you're the plan man and man do we need a plan."

"Hmmmm." Fred stroked his chin in thought "Damn Shag you should teach a philosophy course, that question is spot on..."

By the time the girls had returned they had thrashed out a plan, they decided to keep it to themselves for the moment, both felt better that at least they had an understanding. As soon as the girls approached Scooby moved to sit some distance behind Fred and Shaggy.

"What is up with Scooby Velms? You know him almost as well as Shaggy. After what you've been through this morning you would think he'd be happy to see you." said Velma then added "he looked troubled"

"Yes, something is wrong Daph. I'll ask Shag to find out. We've got enough mysteries on our hands at he moment without Scooby acting up "


	9. Ruhroh Relma, Raphne

Daphne looked at Scooby, confusion and suspicion was evident on her face. Scooby had been getting increasingly withdrawn and behaving strangely, especially around her and Velma. She got up and sat next to Shaggy, resting a hand on his shoulder she leant close to his ear and spoke quietly so Scooby would not hear "Shag, have you noticed that Scooby is pretty much avoiding me and Daphne recently?"

Shaggy thought for a few seconds and stroked his goatee "Now you mention it yes I guess he's following the 'paws off' rule as well"

"I'm not sure, this has only happened in the last couple of days. Something about his behaviour is odd, he's acting like he's spooked by us, could you go ask him what's wrong"

"OK Velms, will do" he replied and headed off to talk with Scooby. The pair returned a short while later and Shaggy got them all together, both Daphne and Velma could see that he looked troubled.

"OK, its best that Scooby explain things so, off you go Scoob old pal." said Shaggy

"Rokay" said Scooby and he walked between Daphne and Velma

"Raphne" said Scooby pointing at Daphne "Relma" said Scooby pointing at Daphne's head

"Relma" said Scooby pointing at Velma "Daphne" said Scooby pointing at Velma's head

"Run reek ra ro rhey relt rike ris" he went and smelt Daphne's hand "Raphne, ronly Raphne" he went and smelt Velma's hand "Relma, ronly Relma"

"One week ago Daphne smelt of Daphne and Velma smelt of Velma right?" said Fred

"Res rand row" he went and smelt Daphne's hand "Raphne, rand rome Relma" he went and smelt Velma's hand "Relma, rand rome Raphne"

"So now Daphne smells of Daphne but with some Relma, I mean Velma and vice-versa?" said Shaggy

"Res, rong rerry rerry rong" Scooby shook his head ears drooping, his countenance was that of a physician delivering bad news

"Bad? I don't…" said Shaggy

"Oh I get it" said Daphne, "I'm starting to take over Daphne's body and vice versa." She paused for a second as a terrible thought crept over her "and I think what Scooby is getting at is when I, I mean Daphne's body smells like me, Velma then… I'm stuck in Daphne's body and she'll be stuck in mine."

"Res!"

Daphne looked at Scooby "We need to talk; I'll get some graph paper from the Mystery Machine and let's go through this and see how much time I've got to get us out of this mess."

Daphne spent quite some time talking to Scooby, drawing some graphs and doing some calculations. Scooby came back a few times to smell Velma's hand and could be seen doing the same with Daphne. When they finally came back Daphne looked down at the floor and shuffled uncomfortably

"I've spoken to Scooby in detail about this; did you know his nose is accurate to 7 decimal places? I've obtained the data from Scooby and done some predictions based on what he has told me... at the current rate of change" she paused and gave a sad sigh her eyes wide open and her face downcast "at the current rate of change we have less than two weeks before the swap is irreversible and... and..." to everyone surprise Daphne looked up with tears welling up in her eyes, her bottom lip trembling "I don't know what to do at the moment. I'm sorry Daph, I just don't know... I've let you all down."

Velma swallowed nervously "Shaggy, go and comfort Velma. Do whatever it takes."

"But the hand's off..."

"Get over there _now_ or I'll get hand on with you, understand?" whispered Velma angrily. Shaggy needed no further prompting headed towards Daphne.

"Shag." said Fred, Shaggy turned to look at him, Fred nodded slightly and Shaggy nodded back then went over and embraced Daphne

"This way Fred" said Velma taking him by the arm and leading him away. _What was all that nodding about_ thought Daphne _those two are up to something._

"Things are bad Fred" whispered Velma "for Velma to be suddenly on the verge of tears like that; they have to be."

Fred turned round and held her tightly, before she could say anything

"You need some comfort as well Daph, I know I do. Velma will understand, and I know Shaggy understands"

"How?" she asked

"Shaggy's the one to thank, he asked me a simple question…"

Shaggy held Daphne as tight as he dared, he could feel her trying to gulp back the tears, after a while she being to relax slightly "Thanks Shag, it was quite a shock. I had hoped to have more time to solve the problem. But with this mystery and Daph's vindictive genes... well there's only so much that you can deal with in one go. It's hard to get the emotional detachment I need to think clearly about this."

"Don't worry Velms, it's not a biggie..."

"Huh! What? How! You! I mean…?" replied a stunned Daphne, because he had just said such an outrageous thing all she could muster by way of reply was a series of angry and disjointed noises

"You're still Velms and that's what matters to me"

"But I'm not in the right body, look being able to see without wearing glasses is a dream" she grew quiet "It's magical, it's something I've always wanted. But this is too high a price, Daph's body needs one of those Surgeon-General warnings, I just can't take much more of it and I know Daph feels the same. I know she still cries in the morning when she wakes up and realises that she still can't see properly."

"Velms, me and Fred have been talking about this, and we have agreed that what ever body either of you ended up in we'd go with that... that doesn't sound right. What I mean is that we think both of your bodies are great and... No that sounds even worse. OK try this if I have two pizzas and swap the toppings over, then their both still tasty… that's no better. OK like think of doughnuts one with blueberry and the other chocolate-orange filling then…"

Velma looked at Shaggy and inwardly smiled at the ongoing pile-up of metaphors, _oh Shaggy when you're in a hole stop digging_ she thought. Still in the way only Shaggy seemed to know how he had lifted her gloom and despair. She knew what he was trying to say, but it would be dark soon and they had things to do.

"...oh, that's even worse and is probably illegal... Ah now I remember, wherever you end up we'll be there as it's the person not the body" Shaggy stopped, Daphne was looking at him, resting her chin on her hands, head tilted slightly to one side, and was smiling at him, she almost looked like Velma now. He finally understood what Scooby was going on about; the girls bodies were getting more like their inner selves everyday. Both were quiet for a while until Shaggy broke the silence.

"Can I suggest something Velms" he asked nervously "Please don't think I'm telling you how to do your job but..."

"Go for it Shaggy, I'm up for suggestions"

"Forget about it and just focus on this case, you're trying too hard. The quicker we solve this case the quicker you can get back to solving the problem with you and Daph. Who knows, give your subconscious the chance to chew on the problem for a while and you might just come up with the answer"

"OK Shaggy, I'll try that. " replied Velma _that's just what I needed to hear_ she thought. She had been given permission, sort of, to fail. She had no intention of failing, but knowig that had eased the emotional pressure. She was impressed by Shaggy and Fred for being prepared to think the unthinkable and coming up with a plan if all else failed.

"Velms?"

"Yes Shag?"

"You're beautiful in whatever body you're in"

"Thanks Shag" Daphne smiled and blushed slightly _that's also what I wanted to hear_ .

"Time for comfort food gang" called Fred "we still have a victory over the gobbler to celebrate."

The gang piled into the Mystery Machine as the farmer got down to the harvest. When they arrived in town a few people waved and cheered them, the news of their victory over the gobbler had already reached town. They parked at the hotel and went shopping, Shaggy had prescribed a picnic in the town park as a suitable treatment for their current woes. While the rest of the gang were off getting the food organised Velma walked to a local news-stand to get some reading maternal for her and Velma. Velma had provided her a fairly specific list of titles, National Geographic being the only one Daphne had ever read before. She was walking down the street looking at the list, occasionally adjusting her glasses, unaware that she was being followed.


	10. A Date With The Dumpsters

Having partially succeeded in her mission Velma was heading back to join the gang. Leaving Velma's body to run on autopilot Daphne was thinking to herself. Over the years she had wondered just how Velma ticked; her obsession with her glasses had both fascinated and infuriated Daphne. Now she knew why, Daphne still couldn't get used to waking up and not be able to see clearly beyond the end of her nose, how Velma put up with this was beyond her. The skin allergies had also been a nasty surprise as well, though she was on top of them now. Then there was Velma's almost carnal desire for knowledge. Daphne found that she just had to read, to know, to understand. Learning ranked along side breathing for importance in Velma's world. Once Daphne understood that, the reason behind Velma's lack of interest in things such as fashion was obvious.

There were benefits, principally the distinct lack of peril, the constant need to be checking and double checking what she was doing and her surrounding environment for potential hazards was now unnecessary. She was also happy with the anonymity. Despite her obvious relationship with Fred, Daphne was often pestered by men wherever she went. The vast majority of the attention she received was unwelcome. As Velma she was free from this for the first time she could remember, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Lost in thought she walked pass a wide alleyway. Before she knew what was happening someone ran into her, knocking her into the alleyway and her glasses onto the floor.

Getting down onto her hands and knees Velma crawled in the direction when she thought her glasses had gone "OK, I'm getting fed up with this now" she muttered to herself as she began to follow Velma's glasses finding routine. She had gone a short way into the alley when she became aware of people standing around her. She stopped and grimaced in pain as her hands were trodden on.

"Hello Velma, long time no see." said a voice in front of her

Daphne felt her insides freeze – the voice belonged to Red Herring.

Red looked down at her and sighed "Still doing the same old thing all these years later, there again fumbling around on your hands and knees sums up your life so far doesn't it Velma? The trouble with the likes of you is you don't know your place in the world. You think too much, ask too many questions and talk too much, that's why you end up with a looser like that hippy Soggy or whatever his name is, I'm surprised he even notices you. Less talk, less thinking and in your case a lot more make-up and you might just stand a chance of getting a decent date."

The rest of Herring's gang laughed while Daphne felt her anger rise, Shaggy was many things, but a looser wasn't one of them, she had lost count of the number of times he had been the one to come to her rescue or overcome his own fears to help chase down a monster. As for Shaggy noticing Velma, it was so obvious that even Fred had noticed how besotted Shaggy was with her. And as Velma's discovery at the police station had shown, she had quite a following of her own. Then it hit her, Herring was intimidated by Velma. She was everything he didn't like in people, especially in women, intelligent, articulate and able to look after themselves. She smiled to herself as a plan came to mind.

"So as a tribute to old times you have a choice, you get go dumpster diving for your glasses – in different dumpsters of course. Now if you ask _really_ nicely you might get to take one of us on a date first and we'll stick you in the same dumpster as your glasses."

"How can I pick a date if I can't see what's on offer?" Daphne tried to make Velma's voice sound as timid and needy as she could.

She gave a little sigh of relief as the feet were removed from her hands, she took hold of the glasses and cleaned them, as she did Daphne squinted like Velma had taught her and discretely looked around, noting where the gang members where.

"Put your glasses on and your hands back on the floor" instructed Red so Velma complied. The two people who had trod on her hands before went to stomp on them again. At the last second she pulled her hands away, grabbed the bottoms of the trousers of the descending legs and pulled upwards as hard as she could, sitting up at the same time. The sudden change in the movement in their legs caused the two bullies to fall backwards and land next to each other. Before anyone else could react Velma jumped up and landed on the stomachs of the two thugs, further winding them, then jumped off towards another of the gang. The first thing he saw was the mean, determined expression on her face, the next was her clenched fist drawn back ready to strike. Too late he began to bring his hands up to protect himself, her fist shot between his hands and connected with his nose. There was a cracking noise; he staggered backwards clutching his face with blood streaming from his nose.

"My nose, she broke my nose" he wailed as he stumbled away

Velma rammed her left elbow backwards directly into the stomach of another thug who was coming up behind her, spinning anti-clockwise she deliver an uppercut, the extra momentum of the spin helped to send them flying into a nearby dumpster where they slumped unconscious to the ground.

"Hot date huh boys?" Daphne exulted in the strength of Velma's body, this was so much fun. Daphne hoped that when they were back in their own bodies that Velma would remember this moment. A woman made a lunge for her, Daphne recognised her as the one who had lured Velma over to the car when they were visiting the Lovell's farm. Daphne, as a general point of principle had decided long ago that she would never punch another woman, so in a show if sisterly comradeship she used a rising elbow strike instead. It wasn't Daphne's fault that Velma possessed hard and pointy elbows. Velma held no such scruples about hitting someone of the same gender and as Daphne was in Velma's body at the moment she threw in a quick left-hook for good measure. Daphne knew it would be what Velma would have wanted.

Daphne had to admit though that Velma lacked the grace, athleticism and agility that she had acquired through her martial arts training, Velma's highly controlled posture being unsuited to the fluid fighting style Daphne was used to. Over the years Velma developed a simpler and more direct approach to these matters, she just hit people till they fell over, as this usually took only one or two blows the end result was pretty much the same as when Daphne fought but the process was less ascetically pleasing.

It dawned on the remainder of the gang that the only way for them to escape was via the alley entrance, which meant having to go through Velma, which was becoming an increasingly unattractive prospect so they milled about waiting for a suitable opportunity to make a run for it. The two gang members she had first pulled over had recovered themselves enough to have another go at her went for her, Velma ducked under their arms and simultaneously punched both in the stomach causing them to drop to the ground where they sat holding their stomachs, Daphne felt it was time to use one of Velma's signature moves... _Now, how did Velma say it went? Oh yes I put an arm under here and another under here, bend knees and lift…_Two of the gang went flying through the air landing head first into the partially filled dumpster previously reserved for her. The remaining gang members took this opportunity to make their escape leaving Red alone. After a few seconds of thought he decided that he should make his exit so began to edge along the side of the alley.

"Where you going Red?" asked Velma as she turned round and squared up with him "You afraid of the big bad Dinkley then?"

Just as she had hoped Red lost his temper and lunged at her, Velma delivered a rapid succession of three inch punches to Red's stomach stopping him cold. He stood still in front of her barely able to stand upright, swaying gently. A swift kick top the groin caused him to collapse to his knees.

"That's for all the times you pestered Daphne for a date at school"

He looked up and opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could Velma drew her fist back and landed a full-power blow right between his eyes and he slowly fell to the ground. Velma brushed her hands then placed them on her hips, looking down at the prone Red Herring "That's for what you did to Velma _and_ my nails"

_OK_ thought Daphne as she brushed herself down, adjusted her glasses, picked-up her dropped magazines and set off to rejoin the rest of the gang _Velma does have to deal with idiots who are scared by intelligent independent women._

"Daph, what too you so long? We were starting to get worried" said Fred as soon a Velma appeared at the picnic site.

"Just taking out the trash" smiled Velma as she sat down "I had a run-in with Red Herring and his gang but I don't think they'll be bothering us or you especially Velma, in future."

"That's incredible, how did you do it Daph" asked Daphne, open-mouthed in wonder.

"Simple, you taught me the 'Flying Dinkley' and I added a few moves of my own"

"Like that's a relief, one less monster to worry about eh Scoob?" said Shaggy

"Reah, ress ronsters rhe retter" replied Scooby.

As the gang ate their picnic they examined the evidence collected from the last farm and planned their next move.

"Hmmm just as we expected, there are tyre tracks underneath these footprints, but no tyre tracks where there were no footprints. This can only mean one thing" said Daphne

"He has tyres for shoes?" asked Shaggy

"Close, I think it's trying to cover up tyre tracks, but tyre tracks of what?"

"Farm machinery is noisy, so it can't be that otherwise people would have reported it"siad Velma

"Rhost rachinery?" quivered Scooby

"Thanks Scooby, just what I didn't need to hear" sighed Shaggy "the gobbler driving a ghost combine"

"Jinkies Shaggy, you're onto something" exclaimed Daphne, Shaggy looked pale at the thought "Not a ghost, but the Gobbler just isn't big enough to eat all the food taken from the farms. There must be mormmmmpgh" Shaggy held his hand and Scooby held his paw over Daphne's mouth

"Velms like can you keep thoughts like that to yourself please. Remember some of us scare easily"

"Reah, scare reasily" added Scooby

Daphne moved their hands away while Fred and Daphne looked on in amusement.

"We need to cover some more ground guys" said Fred "so we'll have to split up. Shag, Scooby you can come with me to the Hatfields farm, the Gobbler had already been there so you should be safe"

"And we'll check out the canning and wholesale food plant." said Daphne "it will be nice to go some place safe, dibs on the Mystery Machine"

"Hey" said Fred

"You boys can take a taxi there. This plant is some way out of town and if things do go bad I want the chance of a quick escape. I'll drive there you can drive back Daph" said Daphne.

They tidied up and headed off in separate directions, a taxi was called and Daphne and Velma got into the Mystery Machine

"Right, this time no accidents, I'm determined not to end up in a can" said Daphne as she drove off "I've had enough of this curse of yours Daph."

Velma settled into the seat and smiled to herself


	11. Saved By The Soda

"Zoinks Fred look at all those solar panels" Shaggy stared out of the window as the cab approached the Hatfield's farm, every available surface was covered with solar panels and any bit of land not devoted to farming crops was devoted to farming photons. The cab pulled up near the farmhouse, as they got out of the cab Fred noticed someone run into the house and could see they were making a phone call while looking at them. A tall thin figure emerged from the farmhouse and approached them and extended his hand.

"Ah Mr Jones and Mr Rogers I've been expecting you, I'm Leon Hatfield. Oh I see you brought your dog as well."

"Rog, rhere?" asked Scooby looking around

"Well he certainly is a most friendly fellow." Leon scratched Scooby behind the ear.

"Yeah, that's Scooby. Sorry we're late Mr Hatfield, these two insisted that we stop off for some drinks..." said Fred nodding his head in the direction of Shaggy and Scooby

"Call me Leon, we don't stand on formality here and don't worry about it, you need to stay hydrated. May I ask where your colleagues are?"

"Colleagues?" asked Fred and Shaggy shrugging their shoulders

"Daphne Blake and Velma... sorry, I can't remember her second name, the really clever pretty one"

"Dinkley" said Shaggy proudly "Velma Dinkley, the pretty one" Scooby gave a little chuckle at the expression on Fred's face.

"Yes that's right. So would you like to see around the farm? There's not much to see ever since the Gobbler took the crops"

"Like what's with all the solar panels man?"

"We're leading the way in clean, quiet farming here. We've even got one of the world's first hybrid-drive combine harvesters."

"Sweet!" said Fred "can we see it"

"Sure right this way" said Leon and lead them towards a large shed bedecked with solar panels. Next to it was another small structure, it appeared that all the cables from the solar panels ended up in that structure.

"The small shed is where we collect all the power, behind it is a place to charge the batteries used by the combine. We can also run a cable from the combine to a battery truck so it doesn't have to carry the batteries, much more efficient"

"Interesting" said Shaggy

"Genius!" exclaimed Fred, lost in the technical details as Leon continued to explain about the combine.

They got to the shed and Leon pulled open a hanger-like door to reveal what looked like a chrome covered combine harvester straight out of a 60's science fiction story.

"Crikeies!" whispered Fred his pupils dilating as far as they could go "can I?" motioning at the drivers seat

"Sure go right ahead" said Leon, Fred dashed into the cab

"You've got to excuse him" smiled Shaggy "he's been like this since High School"

"I've got the keys so he's not going to do..."

"Sorry!" shouted Fred as one of the levers came off in his hand

"...that much damage" Leon just shrugged his shoulders.

"Mind if we have a look round for clues while we're waiting?"asked Shaggy

"Sure, go right ahead, I'll be in the farmhouse if you need anything" said Leon as he left the barn and nodded to one of his workers.

"C'mon Scoob, we might as well look for clues, someone's got to"

"Reah!" replied Scooby, they headed towards the back of the combine just as a muffled 'wumph' sounded from the cabin indicating that Fred had found the air-bag.

Round the other side Shaggy's attention had been draw to an external control on the combine, he pulled out a small piece of material caught where a level met the panel "Hey, will you look at this Scoob"

"Red rur"

"Yeah, just like the piece our Velms found. Say, lets show Fred"

The next thing Shaggy and Scooby knew Fred had run into them knocking them to the floor several feet away. The next second a large hay-bale slammed into the ground where they had been.

"Zoinks, thanks Fred" said Shaggy as they picked themselves up and stared at the hay bale now occupying the space where they had been standing "W-where did that come from"

"At a first guess, up there" Fred pointed to the upper level of the shed "let's check it out"

Fred dashed up the ladder to the upper level followed with less enthusiasm by Shaggy and Scooby. At the top of the ladder was a small mezzanine floor which ran round the side of the shed. They checked around the floor, there was no sign of any hay-bales just the usual detritus of farm machinery parts and...

"Hey guys, take a look at this, oversize sneakers" Fred held up a pair of huge sneakers

"Man those are like size 20 feet someone here must have big feet. Therye almost as big as that sewing machine next to them"

"What a sewing machine and big sneakers doing in a shed with a high-tech combine"

"I don't know Shag, lets keep looking"

Above the bale's impact site Scooby found a couple of pieces of hay.

"Rook rarks on roor." Scooby pointed to a couple of faint marks on the floor pointing in the direction of the drop.

"Good work Scoob, it looks like the hay bale was pushed, but by who?" said Fred

"L-l-like I've got an i-idea" stammered Shaggy tapping Fred on the shoulder

"Who?"

"Him"

"GOBBLE! GOBBLE! GOBBLE!" The Gobbler had just climbed up the ladder they used and was now advancing on them.

"Quick that way" shouted Fred and they ran in the only direction available to them "We're faster than him, we can get round the other side, climb down and then get help"

They stopped dead in their tracks, the mezzanine floor didn't go all the way round

"There no way down" said Fred

"Raggy rhe rinks"

"What, oh yeah, good thinking Scoob" Shaggy and Scooby produced some soda cans and shook then as hard as they could as the Gobble rapidly closed the distance between them.

"5 Skull fizzy cola?" asked Fred

"Yeah we were saving it for the trip back but if we don't act now there won't be a way back."

Shaggy and Scooby stepped forward and opened the cans in the direction of the Gobbler, the creature roared in pain as the cola sprayed in its face, it ran back the way it came and almost fell down the ladder. It ran out of the shed door hollering at the top of it's voice. Fred turned to see Shaggy and Scooby finishing the drinks, both were slightly flushed and their eyes were watering

"Ahh that sure hits the spot eh Scoob"

"Roy red it Raggy"

Shaggy passed a can to Fred, he took a little sniff but quickly pushed the can back "Err thanks, but no thanks guys. Come on, lets get down and tell Leon, perhaps someone saw where it went"

"The Gobbler was here, again?" Leon stared at them "Are you sure, no one has said anything"

"What do you mean no one saw it?" asked Shaggy it was like big and red and shouting its head off.

"Sorry I guess we were just all looking the wrong way. Look you boy look like you've had quite a fright, I've called a cab to take you all back into town. Come back in a couple of days time, if you feel like it" and he ushered them out the door.

"But.." began Fred. Before they knew it they were in a cab heading back to the hotel

"Well, that was odd" said Fred

"You said it, Scooby and I were sure you'd like that cola"

"No Shag, it seemed that they wanted us off the farm quicker that the Gobbler."

"Ahh I hope the girls are having more luck than us" sighed Shaggy "at least of the Gobbler is here, the girls are safe"


	12. Cementing Her Reputation

"Well this is a hive of economic activity" said Daphne observing the empty car-park next to the canning plant and warehouse. The only visible activity was from a nearby cement company. They parked the Mystery Machine next to an open loading bay and began their search trying to keep as low a profile as possible.

Velma put her hand on Daphne's arm " Velms keep an eye out for anything that could be dangerous, like ledges, and let me go first, I don't want you to end up in a vat of food or have to go looking for a can-opener."

"Thanks Daph, I'll do that."

For the next half hour the two searched through the building and found nothing but both were getting a feeling that something was wrong. They headed back to where they began to plan their next move

"Well Daph this looks like a regular canning plant and storage warehouse though…"

"I know what you mean, something isn't quite right, I feel like were missing something"

"Jinkies, that's it! The clue is what's missing, there is a huge range of produce here but it all comes from just _one_ farm? I don't think so."

"Let's check out that farm now, it's next on our to-do list"

"Good idea Daph." Daphne turned to head for the Mystery Machine but found the door barred by a group of 5 people, all heavy-set, all carrying some form of weapon

"Going somewhere ladies?"

"Jinkies!" Velma gave a terrified whisper, Daphne turned to see Velma surrounded by 3 other people, one of which was holding a gun to her head. Another of the thugs pulled Velma's arms behind her back and began to bind her. Once her wrists and arms were tied they proceeded to tie her knees and ankles together.

"So the thinker and the fighter; thinking won't help her now and you're not going to fight if you know what's good for your friend. Now as you have got a reputation as a bit of an escape artist we've got something special lined up for you. You're going to cooperate, we don't want any 'accidents' to happen to your four-eyed friend, these places can be quite dangerous for the unstable." to emphasize the point, Velma was pushed over, being caught just before she hit the ground "Whoops, how did that accident happen"

"Please don't hurt Velma, I'll cooperate."

"Good, just lock four-eyes in one of those product cages in the far corner then come back and help out here" said the leader. The three people surrounding Velma picked her up and carried her off out of sight. A minute later the sound of something metallic clanging shut echoed round the building. Velma's mind was racing, how could she turn this to their advantage, no how would _Daphne_ turn this to her advantage? She needed to give Daphne the time to free herself then they would be in for a nasty surprise just like Herring's gang, in the privacy of Daphne's head Velma gave a loud 'jinkies' as an idea hit her, it might be tough, but…

"What are you going to do to me? 'Cause what ever you plan to do had better be good."

"We've got 40 foot of nylon rope to tie you up then..." the leader replied, he had been taken aback by her comments and felt the initiative slipping away from him.

"Humph, child's play, that's just insulting" Daphne folded her arms and turned up her nose in derision at the threat

"Oh, emm right, err, we'll… we'll then run you through that strapping machine"

"Better, I suppose, just sooo derivative" and she gave a little yawn and appeared bored by the whole affair.

"Ah, OK, sorry. Well…" the leader looked around the building "there's that large bit of canvas and those straps and some chain, we'll then put you in that."

"Getting there, though a rug would make it more classical don't you think? Just like Cleopatra. You do know about Cleopatra don't you?"

The gang leader paused, he wondered who was actually in control here, it reminded him too much of being at school trying to explain himself to the principle. He swallowed, he was sure his palms were sweating.

In her corner Velma had been silently working to free herself and stared in disbelief at the ongoing exchange _what are you doing_ _Velma? _Then it dawned on her and she began, for all intents and purposed, to nosily and ineffectively tug on her bonds "I'll... uh... save you... uh Daphne, ow this is too tight" she called out pathetically "Emm, excuse me, could you loosen these a bit so I can save my friend? If you could leave me the key to this cage I'd appreciate it." This got the desired response as the gang's laughter echoed round the room. She began to work harder to get free knowing now that any noise would pretty much be ignored.

That exchange was the last thing the leader needed; he tried to get his thoughts back in order, he needed some time to think

"Tie her up with the rope and run her thought the strapping machine, I need to think"

Daphne sighed she'd hoped that Daphne would have got free by now; still at least mentally she still had the upper hand. One of the gang picked up a large coil of rope and headed towards Daphne

5 minutes later Daphne was virtually cocooned in rope and knots but she was not happy.

"No, no, no that's not right, just look how unsymmetrical the ropes are" she complained "the tension is uneven; it's just too easy to get free. Look have another go, take as much time as you need." she smiled sweetly at them "remember boys, go for mirror symmetry down the long axis of the body." The gang sighed and began to untie Daphne ready to start over again. After 20 minutes and two further attempts later Daphne finally pronounced that she was satisfied with their efforts

"Yay!" when the gang members and they high-fived each other, one went to give Daphne a high-five but stopped

"Can't join in" she smiled and wiggled her fingers by her side "low five perhaps?"

They picked her up and began to carry her towards the strapping machine.

"Actually I was thinking that it would be safer if you wrapped me in the canvas first then put me through the strapping machine. I don't want to loose circulation, I'm guessing you want to immobilise me, not harm me" _I hope_

"Good idea Miss" said one and they changed direction for the canvass, Daphne managed to catch a glimpse of Velma, she was making progress, but slow progress. A few minutes later she had been wrapped in the canvass and fed through the strapping machine

"I feel like a burrito" she whispered

"Got it!" shouted the leader "We use the pipe bender to make a couple of laid-back sitting shapes like a lounge chair, weld them into place in that steel box over there, strap her to them, we can fill the box with some rapid setting cement then weld some metal over the top as a lid. The only thing that anyone will see is her head sticking out." The leader felt quite proud of himself and turned to Daphne "So I dare you to escape from that!"

Velma mentally face-palmed herself for trying this stunt, but it brought Daphne more time to free herself and Daphne's nails would be kept safe. Still she'd better keep up the charade. The gang could see Daphne pause to think for a second

"Finally a challenge worthy of my escapology skills!" she shouted "Bring it on! $50 says I'll be out within two hours"

"You're on!" said various gang members and they began to lay the money down

_Well a good microscope does cost_ she thought. One of the gang members decided to up the stakes a bit.

"If you don't start trying to free yourself till the concrete sets how about making it $100"

"It's a deal" said Daphne_ perhaps I could get a research-grade microscope_ and she began to mentally flick through a catalogue of microscopes as the gang set to work...

Daphne was lying in the box, strapped to the bent pipes; they were slowly pouring the last load of cement.

"It might get a bit hot, this will set in about 15 minutes then we can weld the lid in place." The only sound she could hear was the concrete mixers and her own heart pounding away. Velma was now seriously worried that she had made a mistake in being so sure that Daphne could get herself free quickly when in the wrong body.

"Go and wheel our four-eyed friend over to watch, she can keep time for us" said the leader and three of the gang went to pull the cage over. The remainder of the gang began to get ready to lift the lid next to the box when she heard the always welcome sound of shovel meeting head

Clang! "Ugh!"

Clang!"Ooh!"

"Hey!" clang!

"Look out she's!" clang!

"What the! How did you..." clang!

Velma's smiling face appeared overhead and she set to work unpacking Daphne. A few minutes later Daphne was able to stand up and dust herself down.

"Even on my face I could tell that you were thinking about microscopes again." laughed Velma

"Too right, thanks Daph that was too close for comfort... another 15 minutes …ugh" She then remember the bet and pocketed the money lying on the floor "A deals a deal, I didn't say how I'd escape besides it will be set by the time they come round. You're reputation is safe Daph."

"Well _you_ need to work on your escapology skills but you have killer legs" said Velma

"Thanks" said Daphne blushing "That's what Shaggy thinks anyway"

Velma closed her eyes and breathed out slowly "No Velma, what I meant was that these legs of yours" said Velma pointing at her legs "are very strong, once I got free it took just one kick to knock those three goons out cold. I guess it comes from all the times you've had to run around carrying Shaggy and Scooby"

"Can we go back now? I've got some urgent on-line shopping, I mean research for the case, to do" asked Daphne.

"If you're thinking about microscopes, I'll drive" said Velma and they headed for the Mystery Machine as fast as they could.

Having parked in the hotel car park Velma and Daphne were headed to meet up the rest of the gang. They were walking arm-in-arm for support and both were a little pale. They entered the hotel and went to the lounge where Fred, Shaggy and Scooby were waiting.

"What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost." said Fred. They got to their feet and escorted the girls to some seats as Scooby hid under one of them.

"Let's just say driving whilst under the influence of Velma's glasses was a not-to-be-repeated experience." said Velma

"Just takes some experience Daph" replied Daphne "Just like I'm getting used to being danger prone, I'm getting the hang of things I didn't fall into anything for a change"

"You nearly ended up in a can"

"That wasn't my fault; in any case I'm up on the deal"

"What are you two talking about?" asked Fred

"What happened to you Velms?" asked Shaggy suddenly full of concern

"We were expected, someone got word to the site that we were coming" said Velma "We were jumped but we managed to double-team them in the end" Velma then recounted what had happened to them at the factory.

"Plus..." Daphne whispered in Shaggy's ear

"How much money? Like how much does that microscope cost?" she whispered again in his ear "It going to cost how much? My first car cost less than that, they're so small, like why do that cost that much?" Shaggy regretted asking as Daphne began speaking some strange alien language, phrases like 'darkfield illumination' and 'infinity corrected' sailed through his head without making any connection with his brain, the only part he did understand was when she said "and that's why it just has to cost that much." Daphne smiled at him, Shaggy had to shut his eyes, for an instant Daphne's face was just like Velma's, he would even swear that there were freckles on her face.

Velma decided to change the subject as Shaggy looked uncomfortable and she couldn't take seeing her body talking like an alien "Fred, Shaggy, how did it go with you?"

"Yeah, we had a number of near misses at the farm as well" replied Fred "We also had a talk on the phone with Wendy McCoy while we were waiting for you to get back. They're not that popular in town so she didn't want to come in to see us. I've arranged to go out there tomorrow. I've an idea, Shag, you and Scoob fill the girls in on what we found at the farm and I'll do a bit of digging about that magic farm you didn't get to see."

Shaggy and Scooby recounted their trip to the farm and how they had heroically saved Fred from the Gobbler. After that he told them about the call with Wendy McCoy and how they felt they were being set-up. At the end he passed the scrap of fur that he had found to Daphne who compared it with the piece she had found.

"They're the same alright Shag, good find." she passed them to Velma "Hmm so the McCoy's are barely making any money and are on the verge of going out of business yet they are the only ones with any amount of crops to sell." mused Daphne "Add to that the inconsistencies Daph and I found at the factory and what you boys found at the Hatfield's farm clues are now starting to stack up. All we need is something to join them together."

"The plot thickens" said Velma examining the pieces of fur

"More congeals, like cold gravy with lumps in" said Shaggy

"Rmmmmm ravey" said Scooby wishfully.

"Yeah just think Scoob, gravy with tasty crunchy bits in mmmm." Shaggy sighed longingly. Daphne and Velma exchanged glances

"Don't look at me, he's your boyfriend" said Velma

Fred came in looking excited "Gang, I've just hit pay-dirt. Girls that farm you were prevented from checking out has a fake address, it redirects to a mailbox address in the next town."

"Good work Fred. Now the crops at the Cickla's farm are due to be harvested tomorrow and we've been asked to do the same there as we did at the Bietes'. Fred, let's see if we can catch the Gobble this time rather than just driving is away. Its trap setting time." said Velma.


	13. Chemical Warfare

"OK, let me see, what do we know about the Gobbler?" Fred paused for thought for a few seconds "OK Shag, time to break out the 5 Skull Fire Sauce, three bottles each…"

Shaggy and Scooby looked ecstatic; Daphne and Velma grimaced in horror

"Extreme measures protocol Daph Fred's gone mad, you sedate him and I'll take charge." said Daphne taking hold of Velma's arm.

"Whoa there you two, I was going to use the sauce in the trap" said Fred "we can use it like a chemical weapon"

"You mean it isn't already" whispered Velma to Daphne

"Good one Daph" giggled Velma

"No fair, that sauce is quality stuff" said Shaggy folding his arms in annoyance, Scooby did likewise

"Reah, ro raisting rood rauce"

"Look all we have to do is to dilute the sauce slightly then put it into some of Daphne's old perfume atomisers..."

Velma stood next to Shaggy and Scooby and folded her arms "You're skating on thin ice mister"

"Errr the ones you don't like and... and I was going to get you some new ones for when you get back in the right body"

"Quick thinking there Fred" whispered Daphne and then addressed the others "Lets listen to what Fred has to say guys."

"Thanks Velms, as I was saying... when we're all set Velma can act as bait…"

Daphne went and joined the others

"OK, I'm sensing some resistance here... Wait,I've a better idea. Right, we know the Gobbler is sensitive to 5 Skull sauce, Shaggy, Scooby and I can use the sprays to get the Gobbler into the open then Daphne and Velma can use the net throwers to fire nets over the Gobbler and we've got him."

"But not the sauce!" pleaded Shaggy

"We have net throwers?" said Daphne

"We will do" replied Fred

"But who's bait" they all asked.

"That's the best bit, we all are!" replied Fred

"Hooray, equal opportunity peril" said Daphne dryly.

"Come on gang lets get ourselves ready" said Fred urging them out of their seats. As they headed to the van Shaggy was arguing with them

"Guys, you just have to try it, it's not that bad. If not the sauce then try the sodas, they even have a range of flavours. Look the 5 Skull sodas are on me..."

"What flavours _do_ they have?" whispered Velma to Daphne

"You don't want to go there Daph, just know that 'mint-choc Teriyaki chicken' is one of them" Daphne passed Velma a small paper bag, then another one a few seconds later.

Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby sat outside the Mystery Machine filling empty perfume atomisers with diluted 5 Skull Fire Sauce. Each were wearing gloves and safety visors, in the middle was an open box part filled with sand with 5 indentations to take the atomisers, 4 were already done and they were working on the last. They had just finished filling the last bottle when there was muffled 'boom' from within the Mystery Machine followed a few seconds later by Fred calling out

"I'm OK"

"Like the net throwers are coming on well" said Shaggy not looking up from what he was doing

"Yes Shag, pass me that wipe please" replied Daphne she took the wipe and cleaned the outside of the bottle then screwed the lid on. She held the bottle up to the light and examined it closely before placing it carefully in its indentation in the box then packed some more sand around all of then, finally she gently closed the lid and locked it closed. They all breathed a sigh of relief, Daphne removed her gloves and lifted her safety visor "there, all done."

"Rupper time?"

"We're having supper at the farm Scoob" said Shaggy scratching Scooby behind his ears "as soon as Fred is done we can head off" there was another small explosion from within the Mystery Machine followed by Fred voice

"I think I know what the problem is"

"Still time to walk there" said Daphne

Fred eventually sorted out the net thrower and they had made it to the farm in time for supper. As before they had snatched a few hours sleep before putting their plan in action. Based on information from the other farms they had been able to make an educated guess to where the Gobbler would most likely appear. They had parked the Mystery Machine near the location and were getting ready to set out.

"OK gang, the farmer has spread the word that they will be harvesting before sunrise, hopefully that will flush out Gobbler sooner rather than later. All set?" said Fred, he paused then glared and Shaggy and Scooby "Shaggy, Scooby stop spraying that stuff into each others mouths, save it for the monster"

"Rorry Red" replied Scooby

"Good, girls you set?" Fred looked Daphne and Velma, kitted out in his latest contraption. Each was carrying a large ruck-sack size contraption full of pipes, tubes and cylinders and were holding something which looked like a cross between a harpoon gun and a vacuum cleaner, for added accuracy Velma had added a targeting laser. Both were wearing a heads-up targeting display that Daphne and Velma had knocked-up while they were waiting for Fred to get the net throwers finished.

"Think so, Freddie have you actually tested these?" said Velma eyeing her net launcher suspiciously.

"Not as such but in principle everything works fine"

"Can we go back to the plan where I was the bait, I think I'd feel safer" whispered Daphne "well time to go, lets lock and load Daph."

"Right, Shag and me will go ahead, girls you follow a couple of minutes behind and Scooby you stay close to the girls and give them point-defence. Let's go"

For the next hour the gang moved carefully and quietly around the crops keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Finally in the small hours they made contact.

"The Gobbler is nearby, I can hear it" whispered Fred

"But nearby is not the same as being here right?" asked Shaggy looking around him. He could sense its presence as well and motioned for the girls and Scooby to be still. Fred pointed to a point slightly behind them. They all looked at the plants, they could all sense movement within. Velma looked away, distracted by a faint hissing noise from her net thrower.

"Fred" whispered Velma urgently, "this pressure container looks loos..." there was a small explosion as the cylinder failed firing the net at Velma. She fell backwards completely entangled in the net.

"Fred Jones, when I get back in my body you are in so much trouble" she called out wriggling on the floor like a caterpillar "Velma, Scooby help!"

"The Gobbler!" shouted Shaggy as he saw the Gobbler bust out from the plant and start running towards them "Fred, open fire!"

Fred and Shaggy began squeezing the atomiser bulbs and a fine mist of sauce began to drift towards the Gobbler. The creature stopped in its tracks, Fred and Shaggy were getting ready to congratulate each other when the Gobbler took a deep breath and blew the mist back where it came from. A few seconds later Fred and Shaggy were coughing and spluttering, rubbing their eyes and generally fumbling around. Both dropped their atomisers.

"Don't worry Shag, I'm coming!" shouted Daphne running over to help

"Velma look out!" shouted Velma from the floor "mind the net"

Daphne stopped just in time time, kneeling down she took up a firing position, sighted the Gobbler in the cross-hairs and gently pulled the trigger. The laser came on and painted the Gobbler, the targeting system used information from the laser to calculate the wind-speed, direction, humidity, distance to target and the velocity of the target. It made a series of correction to the aiming then fired the net. The net sailed sailed through the air following the precise trajectory calculated by the targeting computer, the net opened as expected then wrapped itself round Fred and Shaggy.

"Whoops" went Daphne bringing her hand to her mouth "sorry"

Any amusement on her face vanished as the Gobbler grabbed hold of the net and its contents, slung it over its shoulder and sprinted off into the darkness roaring in triumph, the sound mixing with the boys cries for help.


	14. Hold The Cheese

"Shaggy! No!" screamed Daphne, she ripped the net thrower off her back and began to give chase on foot.

"Velma! Don't go alone" shouted Velma "Scooby help free me then we've got to get Velma before she gets into any trouble."

Scooby set to work untangling Velma from the net. Once this was done they collected the fallen atomisers and headed for the Mystery Machine.

"Jeepers she sure can run, Scooby can you pick up her scent?"

"Ro reed, rook Robbler rootprints" Scooby pointed at the huge footprints in the ground

"Good find Scooby, well done! Now get in and lets go" Velma and Scooby got into the Mystery Machine and followed the footprints. A short while along the lane the found a dejected looking Daphne slowly trudging along the road, they slowed down and Scooby pulled her inside then Velma floored the accelerator. Daphne and Scooby clung to each other in terror as Velma threw the Mystery Machine around the corners till it reached a gate and Velma slammed on the brakes. She dragged the trembling pair out of the van.

"Come on you two the footprints go this way" she said

"Light, there's a light in the distance on that hill, come on Daph" said Daphne and ran off dragging Velma behind her

"Your legs are shorter than mine" wailed Velma trying to keep up.

Finally the trio crested the hill. "I think it took them in here, that's where the footprints go" panted Daphne pointing to a large barn with a number of attached outbuildings. Light was coming from main entrance.

"I hope so; I'm not used to driving in someone else's body let alone running" said Velma as she stood and caught her breath "come on, this way"

They entered a cavernous barn-like structure with a number of wide doors in each wall. At the centre was a large metal vat, bigger than the mystery machine with a couple of gas burners underneath. From the vat came the odd 'gloop' nose, whatever was in the vat was getting hot.

"Ewwww can you smell hot cheese?" said Daphne

"Yeah" replied Velma holding her nose

"Gruyère, rummy" said Scooby licking his lips

Above the noise of the burners and gloops from the cheese there was another noise that made the hair on the back of their necks stand up and the looked at each other with trepidation.

"Shhhh, can you hear that" whispered Velma

"Yes, sounds like some muffled cries for help, the boys must be near by"

The looked around for the source of the sound, after a few moments they stopped and stared at each other then slowly looked above their heads

"Ro no, Raggy!" yelped Scooby

Daphne winced slightly as Velma gripped her arm "No, not Fred, no"

Daphne looked up and her heart sank. High in the air above the vat two skewer like poles were being slowly lowered towards the molten cheese, Fred and Shaggy were each tightly tied to one of them, a large red object was stuffed into each of their mouths

"What's in their mouths" asked Velma

"Edam I think"

"Ohhh poor Freddie, he prefers Gouda"

"I'd say he prefers being dipped in hot cheese even less. Come on Daph, it's the girls to the rescue!" Daphne caught sight of the look on Scooby's face "the girls and Scooby to the rescue. Oh jinkies this is horrible, poor Shaggy, I feel awful..." Velma looked at Daphne as she paced around nervously playing with her fingers. Ever since they started mystery hunting Velma had always clucked and fussed over Shaggy, now they were seriously dating Velma was even more protective towards him and seeing him in danger at times upset her so much that she found it hard to focus on anything else.

"Now imagine if that vat was full of chocolate would you be tempted to wait until they'd both been dunked before we rescued them?" said Velma trying to lift the mood.

"To right Daph, chocolate dipped Shaggy, my favourite!" replied Daphne, the eagerness in her reply caused Velma to do a double take.

"Relma! Really" said Scooby

"Velma Dinkley! I'm shocked you'd think let alone say such a thing" replied Velma, genuinely surprised.

"Well, yeah, but what a thought hey Daph?" replied Daphne nudging Velma in the ribs

"It's not chocolate, it's smelly cheese and I'm not having my Freddie covered in smelly cheese"

"Spoil sport" muttered Daphne "Ok Daph, I'll turn off the burners, you and Scooby look for a lid for that thing. After that we can find the hoist controls"

Daphne followed the hoses from the burners, found the gas bottles turned off the gas supplied and disconnected the hoses.

"Don't worry boys!" whispered Daphne as loudly as she dared "we're on the case. Daph, Scooby any luck?"

"Think... so... This is heavy, little help please" grunted Velma

"Reavy" agreed Scooby.

Daphne dashed over to led a hand and after several minutes of hauling and lifting the lit closed over the vat with a reassuring thump.

"Rook roist rontrols" Scooby pointed to a couple of buttons mounted to a box on one of the walls.

"You go Daph I don't want to have another 'danger prone' event and hurt the boys"

"Good thinking, come on Scooby" Velma and Scooby headed over to the controls

"They are just for right and left, no up and down"

"Well move them away from the vat so they will come down to the ground not cheese"

Fred and Shaggy gave a muffled yelp as Velma moved them away from the vat.

"Can't find any up-down controls, but are they boys safe now?" asked Velma

"Yes, the heat has been turned off, we've replaced the lid and moved the boys away in any case. Now we just need to wait for them to get lowered down…"

Velma touched Daphne on the arm and began to back away "That's good Velma as…"

"As what Daph?" Daphne picked up the tension in Velma's voice.

"We're not safe, look. Run!" Velma pointed in the direction of a large door on the far side of the room in which stood a now familiar red creature.

"Scooby we'll lead him away, you free the boys when they get down" Daphne whispered into Scooby's ear and pushed him out of sight.

"GOBBLE! GOBBLE! GOBBLE!" The Gobbler roared and waved its fists in the air in anger when it saw what was going on and charged towards them.

Daphne and Velma ran away making as much noise as they could to keep the Gobbler focussed on them rather than Scooby. They lead the Gobbler in, out and around he barn and it's connected buildings, always ensuring that they didn't get too far ahead that it would loose them.

"We can't keep this up forever Velms" said Velma

"You said it Daph, Scooby should have freed the boys by now, time to ditch our friend and get back." The girls picked up the pace and dashed thought a series of corridors and rooms soon loosing sight of the Gobbler.

"Did you keep track of where we are?" asked Velma as they slowed down.

"No, I thought you were. Lets try down here" said Daphne, they walked down a short corridor then made right turn only to come face-to-face with a blank wall

"It's a dead end; at least we have lost it" sighed Velma

The creature suddenly appeared and loomed over them, they held onto each other in fright. "She's the one you should take" they shouted pointing at each other. This seemed to confuse it for a few seconds, the girls looked at each other, smiled, then kicked it hard in each shin "neither of us" they ran round the creature and crashed head-first into each other. Both slumped to the ground. Velma adjusted her glasses and rubbed her head, _jeepers this is a painful habit we've got into _all of a sudden she was dragged to her feet by the creature and held aloft over its head. It opened its huge mouth ready to swallow her in one gulp.

"Gobble Gobble Gobble" it grinned

Quickly Velma reached for her atomiser, unscrewed the top and emptied its contents down down the creatures' throat. Its pupils contracted and a small squeak emerged from its throat. Daphne came round and saw Velma about to become lunch and scissor kicked the monsters legs away from it. It dropped Velma as it fell, it managed to drag itself to its feet, staggered for a few steps then fell through a wall grabbing hold of Daphne as it fell. Velma looked up to see the Gobbler drag Daphne through a hole in the wall. She leap to her feet and looked through the hole, it looked like they had fallen into a basement, she saw Daphne lying on the floor with the Gobbler running out the door,

Daphne looked up and waved slightly "Daph look out, the floor..."

Velma began to move away just as the damaged wall she was holding onto gave way.

Daphne looked up to see Velma falling head-first towards her, the next thing she saw was stars as she landed on top of her. Velma rolled off Daphne and tried to pull herself up by holding onto a nearby table, her hand groping for something to give her purchase.

"Ahhh my head" groaned Velma feeling yet another bump coming up on her forehead then fumbled for the edge of the table "Any more of this and I'll look like a Klingon."

She grabbed hold of a letter tray spilling its contents on the floor. Velma looked at the pieces of paper in front of her, she reached out and picked up a couple "jinkies" she whispered as she read them, her headache now forgotten

Daphne lay on her back and opened her eyes, she gazed at the world with a look of wonder on her face. She held her hand in front of her face and gave a little squeal of delight.


	15. Slap and Tickle

"Raphne, Relma rin rere" yelped Scooby from the doorway that the Gobbler had escaped through. He dashed into the room followed seconds later by Fred and Shaggy. Daphne leapt to her feet and ran to embrace Fred, almost knocking him over in the process. Fred and Shaggy looked stunned by the whole affair; she whispered something into Fred's ear and was just about to speak to Shaggy when Velma spoke up.

"Guys" said Velma getting groggily to her feet "I think I've just solved this mystery" she announced holding out the papers she had just found

"What did you just say?" said the rest of the gang simultaneously

"I, I said I think I've solved this mystery" said Velma backing away slightly, instinctively raising an arm to protect herself. She could do without this; her head was really hurting right now.

"Velma!" said Daphne her face breaking into a huge smile

"Yes Daphne?" said Velma

"Don't you realise what's just happened"

"I, solved the mystery?" said Velma blankly, scratching her head and looking puzzled. She knew she was missing something obvious, but was puzzled at why the rest of the gang were staring at her and smiling.

"No, look at me, look who's talking to you" said Daphne walking over to her and holding Velma by the arms.

"You are Daph, but I don't understand… YOU are Daph!" she looked down at herself "I'm back home! Shaggy…" she looked at Shaggy whose was shining with happiness, her emotions were surging, she rushed over and squeezed the breath out of him "Shaggy break out that recipe book and romance me with a beet feast…." she stopped when she noticed the expression on Daphne's face.

"We so need to have a little talk, a _beet_ feast?" said Daphne, her nose wrinkling in displeasure

Velma smiled "I'll explain later Daph. Scooby, do we smell right…." Scooby cannoned into Velma knocking her over then licking her face, finally curling up on top of her with a contented sigh

"Rahhh ry Relma's rack"

"We can take that as a yes" said Shaggy

"Get off me… Look Scooby, go and check on Daphne" said Velma trying to push Scooby off.

Scooby began to eagerly head towards Daphne but a raised eyebrow from her caused him to slow down for a second then he leapt joyfully at her anyway.

"My clothes!" cried Daphne "Scooby! I'm covered in dust and dog hairs"

"She's back" laughed Fred walking over to help Daphne up.

Velma described the documents as she laid them out on the table one-by-one "This is a rental bill for the mail-box Fed discovered, a utility bill for the canning plant, this is a, ugh don't remind me, a faxed invoice for an urgent delivery of quick-setting cement to the canning plant." Velma looked up, her eyes bright with the thrill of discovery "They all have the same address, a holding company called 'Solar Farms'"

Fred nodded "I think I can see where this one is going, nice one Velma. OK gang, let's look around to see if we can find anything else." The gang split up and searched around the room

"Order for red fur fabric here" said Fred holding up a piece of paper.

"Jeepers, its information on us from our website. There as note from someone called LH telling his workers to keep an eye out for us. Creepy" said Daphne

"Like, check this out Velms" said Shaggy looking up from the papers he was holding.

"What is it Shag" Velma walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist

"It's a list of farms and when their crops will be ripe. Even better some maps showing the route the harvesting will take"

"Great find Shag. OK, let me think" she held him tightly, rested her head on his back and closed her eyes then breathed deeply, savouring his scent. Shaggy closed his eyes and rested his arms on hers; both becoming absorbed in each others physical presence. Scooby settled down next to them pressing himself against them both and closed his eyes with a contented look on his face. Fred and Daphne just stared uncomfortably around the room and at each other. Daphne looked at Shaggy and Velma, she knew that they were a very affectionate but also fairly private, couple so this display was quite a rare sight even for Fred and Daphne. As sweet, touching and as gushingly romantic as Daphne thought it all was, she wanted, no needed, to get on with the case. She shook her head, this wasn't right; usually Shaggy and Velma were the ones who stood around waiting for her and Fred to finish with each other after a rescue. Velma would be keen to get on and solve the mystery and Shaggy would be keen to persuade Velma not too. Perhaps there was still a little bit of Velma imprinted on her character?

"What is wrong with this picture?" whispered Daphne to Fred with a slight smile on her face.

Fred came over and put his arm around her; Daphne put an arm around his wait and rested her head on his shoulder. Both of them ended up looking at Shaggy and Velma. After many moments of silence Daphne whispered to Fred

"Do you think they know where they are?"

"Doubt it. Let's not disturb them, just yet"

Daphne closed here eyes and tried to enjoy the peace and the simple pleasure of being again in close contact with Fred. It worked for a while but eventually she felt compelled to open her eyes. To her surprise Fred was studying Shaggy and Velma, noticing her movement he looked at her

"I was wrong Daph" giving her a little kiss on the forehead

"About what Fred?"

Fred inclined his head in the direction of Shaggy and Velma "They are perfect for each other"

Daphne looked delighted and gave Fred a gentle squeeze.

The minutes dragged by, Daphne felt here eyes beginning to droop, she'd already had to nudge Fred awake once. Shaggy, Velma and Scooby still seemed to be locked in their trance like state.

"Time to go Daph or I'm going to sleep right here" said Fred

"OK, I'll try and contact Velma" said Daphne and she walked over to Velma

"Velma." said Daphne softly

"Mmmmmm" sighed Velma

"Vel-ma" said Daphne in a quiet sing-song voice

"Hmmmm?" said Velma, not moving a muscle

"Time to leave planet Shaggy"

"Hmmmm" replied Velma still not moving. Daphne looked at Fred who simply shrugged his shoulders

_You asked for this_ thought Daphne, she leant in and whispered in Velma's ear "Would the orange cuddle-bunny let go of her green snuggle-munchkin."

Velma's eyes immediately flew open, her expression akin to someone smelling a rotten egg _cuddle-bunny_? _snuggle-munchkin?_ she mouthed incredulously "Daph, what on earth are you talking about? I was thinking about the case."

"Sure you were, thinking precisely what about the case?"and raised her eyebrows.

"Errrr, I can't remember exactly" said Velma sheepishly "but it involved Shaggy..."

"Ooooh you don't say" said Daphne feigning surprise. Velma gave her a don't-push-it-Daph look then replied

"We can use the information that Shaggy found to catch the culprits. Give Captain Burak a call and tell him to get here with as much noise and fuss as possible, I've got a plan. Fred time for a new trap"

Fred looked puzzled "Why? What was wrong with the last one?"

"Whilst in principle the plan was complete in its key elements it lacked the underlying flexibility to dynamically counter the vagaries of improvised machinery and the inherent variability in local meteorological phenomena which resulted in its sub-optimal outcome when implemented in the real world."

"So? You still haven't said what was wrong with the last plan."

Velma let go of Shaggy, turned to face Fred and folded her arms "Executive summary – it didn't work."

Quarter of an hour later the building was surrounded by squad cars, all with their lights on. A forensic team was combing the building for evidence while Fred and Velma were in conference with Captain Burak

"So Captain, you arrange for us to appear to flee town then keep us hidden until tomorrow night" said Velma

"Right, I'll get you the equipment you need Miss Dinkley..."

"Please, call me Velma"

"Oh right thanks Velma, Mr Jones, you drive the Mystery Machine out of town and I'll arrange for it to be hidden and get you back. You can pick up the additional gear you need on your way.

"Thanks Captain" said Fred

By midday the next day the gang had secreted themselves at the Storeman's farm, the next site they expected to be hit. True to his word the Captain had arranged for Mystery Inc to 'flee' in panic as discreetly and as obviously as possible. They had spent most of the time concealed in the farmhouse and were now making their final preparations.

"So what's the plan in the can Velms" asked Daphne looking up from the map of the farm that they had all been studying.

"We're splitting up, Shaggy and I will be lookout from the hayloft, Fred will be disguised as the ultimate scarecrow and Daph you get to play rustic farm-girl"

"Re! Rot rabout re" asked Scooby

"And Scooby you can go disguised as a farm dog" said Velma. Scooby jumped up and began licking her face

"Rank rou, rit's a ream rome rue" he said beginning to get a bit emotional.

"Down Scooby steady on, what's up with you?" said Velma holding onto Scooby for support.

"I'll ask him" said Shaggy and he took Scooby to one side for a while, after a brief discussion he had the answer "Like he says he's always wanted to play a dog"

"Oh Scooby" they all laughed

It was late in the evening and the sun was setting painting the farm in orange-red light. Fred, Shaggy, Velma and Scooby were lounging around the barn. Fred was trying to bench-press a hay-bale, Velma was crawling around on her hands and knees trying to identify all the species of insect and beetle she could find and Shaggy and Scooby were making models of food out of hay. All were bored to the point of distraction.

"Do you think she'll be done anytime soon?" asked Shaggy yawning and stretching

"Dunno Shag, you know how long Daph can take to get all made-up" replied Fred from under a hay-bale

"Man we've been here hours" complained Shaggy "the only thing stopping us eating this straw food is there's no sauce in the straw ketchup bottle"

"Just how long does it take for Daphne to get a non-made-up rustic look anyway? Seriously if she doesn't hurry up we'll have to postpone till tomorrow" said an exasperated Velma

"Ta-Dah!" they all turned as Daphne appeared, skipping through the door. She was wearing a flowing purple gingham dress and on her head was a huge floppy hat with a purple ribbon round it. She had fashioned her hair into pigtails, fake freckles and rouge were on her face, a long piece straw was in her mouth and in her hands she held a basket full of flowers.

Daphne twirled round "Well, what do you think? This is just so authentic!" She looked at Fred, his eyes grew wide and pleasure was written all over his face.

"Daph, you look fantastic!" said Fred rushing over to embrace her

"City girl" muttered Velma

"Oh thank you Freddie, that's so sweet of you"

"What are you holding hands Daph?" asked Velma suspiciously as she eyed some orange gingham material in Daphne's hand. Daphne put down the basket of flowers and held out an much shorter version of dress she was wearing, but this time in orange,

"I've even made a dress for you Velms, I just know it will look sooo good on you. Ohh and there's just a precious little rustic headscarf for you wear as well." enthused Daphne clapping her hands together excitedly.

Velma held her head in her hands "Why do I even bother to ask anymore?"

"Actually Velms, that dress might suit you" said Shaggy, even Scooby nodded in agreement. Velma looked around and knew defeat when she saw it. She walked up to Daphne, took the dress then went to Shaggy and grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to her and planted a hard kiss on his lips

"I'm wearing this because I love you" she said then whispered in his ear "and because I'll never hear the end of it from Daph if I don't, and because I love you"

A few minutes later Velma emerged

"Well...?" she said nervously, her eyes looking slightly downwards. Velma stole a quick glance at Shaggy, he was staring at her in open-mouthed admiration, Daphne raised a knowing eyebrow in her direction.  
"Jinkies" whispered Velma feeling her face heat up and she struggled to regain her composure.

"Headscarf?" said Daphne holding out said item.

"Can't do the headscarf Daph, doesn't go with these" Velma took out out three sets of night vision goggles from the box of equipment provided by Captain Burak and handed one each to Shaggy and Scooby. "These even work with my glasses" and Velma demonstrated by putting on the goggle then showing how they flipped own in front of her glasses, did likewise. They then stood back-to-back and made pistol shapes with their fingers

"Like, MI Spy man" chucked Shaggy

"The name's Dinkley, Velma Dinkly"

"Hey Velma, do you want to turn me on" laughed Shaggy pointing to his night-vision goggles.

Velma gave a cheeky giggle "OK then Shag, I'll turn you on if you turn me on" and they switched on each others goggles,

A few seconds later Velma spoke up in low seductive tones "I'm turned on now Shaggy" both dissolved into laughter almost immediately.

"Roh brother" sighed Scooby covering his eyes with his paws, Daphne gave a little groan and Fred closed her eyes and held his head. Velma took Shaggy by the hand and they headed off to take up position in the hay-loft

"I can't see!" cried Shaggy, walking into a wall by the sound of things.

"You've still got the lens cap on silly"

"Perhaps we should send Scooby along with them" said Fred slowly shaking his head as the sound of Shaggy and Velma laughing and fooling around receded.

"Why?"

"Well shouldn't those two be under some kind of adult supervision" Scooby tried to hide his laughter whilst Daphne tried to decide between being amused and annoyed.

"Freddie! That's just mean; you know Velma and Shaggy will take this seriously, especially Velma. Come on, let me help you and Scoob get set-up then get ourselves in position…"

Out in the field Daphne sat next to Fred and tried to ignore the noise coming from her earpiece, from the sound of slurping, rustling of clothes and general movement Shaggy and Velma were engaged in some serious snogging and had accidentally switched on their radio's microphone in the process. When it got to what sounded like Velma chasing Shaggy round the hay loft Daphne could stand it no more.

"Keep your minds on the job and your hands off each other" she whispered into her radio

There was a brief pause before Velma's slightly breathless reply "yes mother, sorry mother" there followed what sounded like a gentle smack and Shaggy's voice

"Naughty Velma…"

"Ow! Not now Shag, Daph can hear..." then the radio cut out

_Just when you think you know some people_ Daphne sighed.

A couple of hours later Daphne heard the radio message they had been waiting to hear.

"We have contact" whispered Velma into her microphone "One vehicle" Shaggy held up another finger "wait two vehicles. It's a truck and… one very shiny combine harvester"

"They're following the planned route" whispered Shaggy after consulting the discovered plan

"OK Fred stand-by, Daph, Scooby start operation distract and disconnect"

Scooby flipped down his night-vision goggles and switched them on "Rit's rhow rime!"


	16. Distract and Disconnect

Daphne skipped towards the now parked vehicles, singing as she went. The vehicles were surrounded by a number of masked figures who all turned to look when she approached

"Oh my word! Howdy folks, where did y'all come from?" said Daphne in a OTT cowboy accent

"Oh good grief" muttered Velma as they listened in to the conversation

"We could say the same for you Missy, you're not one of the regular farmhands here" three of the masked figures approached Daphne

"I'm new here, I'm… I'm an intern"

"Fred, Scooby get ready, she's just blown her cover" whispered Velma into her radio

"Daphne, like behind you!" whispered Shaggy into his radio

Before Daphne could react she was grabbed from behind and her arms were pulled behind her back, she heard the ratcheting sound of handcuffs and felt the coldness of the steel as they were fixed to her wrists. Daphne fought to remain calm as the group began to crowd around her. Two of the figures walked up close to her. She recognised both from her previous encounter at the canning plant. The pair examined her face closely and she saw their expression change.

"She's wearing a wire!"

"Wait, I recognise her…"

Velma nodded to Shaggy "Now Daph!" said Shaggy into his microphone

Daphne grabbed the groin of the man behind her and squeezed for all she was worth then used the leverage to kick down the two in front of her. Letting go she sprinted off leaving three groaning heaps on the floor behind her. Daphne reached a fence and used it to leap into the air; she somersaulted around and managed to bring her wrists in front of her as she spun. When she landed she looked around unsure of which way to go

"Go left Daph" said Shaggy guiding her in the direction of Fred

Daphne pulled a hairpin out of her hair and began to pick the cuffs as she ran towards Fred

"Fred, Daph's heading your way she's being followed, use the signal" said Velma into her microphone.

"Scooby old buddy you're all clear to go, Daph's leading them away" said Shaggy into her microphone, her then turned to Velma "C'mon Velms" taking her hand and heading for the door.

"We're moving. Fall back to the rendezvous point" said Velma into her microphone.

Daphne caught sight of a flashing light behind some plants and headed directly towards it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the scarecrow in front of her was Fred.

"Quick behind me Daph" called the scarecrow

"OK Fred" she said running past him towards a bag on the ground. She finished picking the handcuffs then threw off her hat, put on a face mask and goggles then began to prime the large water gun which was filled with diluted 5 Skull Fire Sauce. The people pursuing Daphne burst through the plants and stopped in their tracks when they saw a scarecrow with glowing red eyes and mouth, an eerie green light was coming from its wrists and neck.

"Leave her alone, she is mine now!" roared Fred at the top of his voice then he lunged for the closest of the gang. They ran back the way they came yelling about a possessed scarecrow.

The terrified group arrived back at the vehicles. This time the Gobbler was there

"We've got to go boss, there's an evil scarecrow out there!" yelled one of the figures running up to the Gobbler

"Nonsense, it's another one of those meddling kids playing dress-up" said the Gobbler "Chase 'em down with the combine!"

A masked figure ran back got into the combine, switched it on and floored the accelerator. The machine roared into life and sped off in reverse crashing into the battery truck. Sparks and smoke flew everywhere. Scooby slunk off quietly into the darkness chuckling quietly to himself.

"What the hell happened?" screamed the Gobbler

"Dunno boss, the combine's not working correctly"

"Never mind, we'll chase 'em down on foot. Grab something to beat 'em with boys; we need to teach these kids a lesson."

Fred and Daphne were together; Fred had shed his scarecrow costume and was now masked and armed like Daphne. They had their backs against a fence, they had retreated slowly and as carefully as they could but they had not been able to move in silence. Waiting now in silence they could hear the sound of their pursuers getting closer and closer, they trained their water guns in the direction of the noise and waited.

"If this goes wrong Daph I want you to run as fast as you can for the farmhouse, I'll hold them off as long as I can" he whispered

"I'm not leaving you Freddie. Not now, not ever."

Fred was quite for a second "Where ever you go Daph, I'll follow. Both now and forever." her turned to face her and they drew close together "I'm not letting you get away..."

"Not now Freddie, sorry, we, we have company" said Daphne as their pursuers appeared from the plant and stood in front of them. They parted slightly and the Gobbler strode out of the plants and stood in front of the masked villains.

"Awww how sweet" said the Gobbler

"Found your voice I see" Daphne snapped back "what happened to the gobble, gobble, gobble?"

"Time to teach you kind some respect, break 'em boys" said the Gobbler

"We're gonna hurt you real good" growled of the figures and they began to walk towards Fred and Daphne who readied their water guns.

"Now Scooby!" shouted Fred

"Rands rup!" yelled Scooby suddenly appearing on their right flank, armed with water gun.

A quad bike erupted from the plants on their left flank, the lights dazzling the villains, Shaggy was driving and Velma standing up on the passenger seat holding onto Shaggy for dear life.

"Jinkies!" she screamed, part out of terror, part out of excitement. She was aiming a modified version of Fred's net-thrower which was attached to a improvised firing mount on the bike. Once clear of the plants Shaggy slammed on the breaks and Velma fired the net which this time found its target. Then next second Fred, Daphne and Scooby gave the captured villains a quick spray with the diluted 5 Skull Fire Sauce to ensure nobody tried to escape. Two quad bikes pulled up next to Shaggy and Velma's.

"Great work kids" said Captain Burak as he and 3 other officers got off the bikes "back-up will be her in a few minutes along with some transport for our guests."

"Captain, would you do the honours?" asked Velma, Captain Burak removed the head of the Gobblers costume

"Leon Hatfield!"

Captain Burak looked stunned "Leon, but why? You're a pillar of the community"

"I'm not talking!" he growled

"I'll tell you why" said a voice from behind them. People tuned to see Wendy McCoy flanked by two police officers and Farmer Storeman.

"Leon and I were once engaged to be married. On the eve of our wedding he demanded that I sign my farm over to him, I was to be no more than just another employee and the rest of my family kicked out. My farm has been in our family for generations and I just couldn't do that and I wouldn't see my own kith and kin out on the streets. He then made it out that I stood him up at the alter and has been badmouthing me ever since."

"You spurned me and no-one spurns a Hatfield. That farm should have been mine, I was doing you a favour, no woman is up to running a farm like that"

Fred and Shaggy instinctively grabbed hold of the girls, there'd been enough violence for the day.

"Get him out of here" said Captain Burak in disgust

"Wendy, I'm sorry. We were wrong about you" said Farmer Storeman holding out his hand, Wendy took the proffered hand and shook it

"Thank you Rich."

"Come on everyone, there's coffee on in the farmhouse" said Farmer Storeman

In the warmth of the farmhouse Velma outlined the case. "It was very clever Captain Burak, the Hatfields would harvest the food the night that it ripened using their electric combine harvester which the gobbler would walk behind and cover up the tyre marks. The electric combine was so quiet that it didn't disturb people. Then the gobbler would return later to make it appear that it had consumed all the food from the farm, eventually only the Wendy's farm would be left completely unscathed." said Velma

"That way everyone would blame the McCoys?" replied Captain Burak

"Exactly, in the mean time they were selling the stolen food to the shops in the town via their fake out-of-town farm and canning plant. This meant that the McCoys would be unable to sell their produce at any price and would get no help from the local shops and businesses as they were being blamed for the problem. This would drive the McCoys off their land which the Hatfield's would buy at a cut-down price."

"That would make give them the largest farm in the area by far, not to mention a near monopoly on beets, and you know how we love out beets in this town." said Wendy following the line of Velma's reasoning.

"Precisely, they could then charge whatever they liked and make a fortune or undercut all the other farms and buy them out at a knock-down price."

"Well kids you sure earned the reward for this one. Rödbetor will be glad that you got to the bottom of this mystery, it could have ruined this town." said Captain Burak as he stood up and got ready to leave "You kids have done your job, now it's time for me to do mine. I know it's been a long day already, but would you be up to coming round the the police stations later today Velma?"

"You bet Captain" replied Velma enthusiastically.

It was midday and the gang were getting ready to leave having previously been shopping for a few souvenirs and supplies for the journey back. Velma and Shaggy had just returned from the police station where Velma had had her photograph taken with a group of officers. After which they had gone and brought a frame for the picture so Velma could hang it up in her office, before ducking into the jewellery store next door. Daphne noticed that Velma was still staring into the window the jeweller's even thought Shaggy had rejoined the gang so she wandered over to see what she was looking at. As she got closer Daphne could see that Velma appeared to be looking at the engagement rings.

"Hi Velma, looking for anything in particular?" asked Daphne

"Oh errr hello Daph. Say look at this amber necklace Shag just brought me. I picked it out and he paid" Velma pulled the necklace out from under her sweater.

"That's the best kind of shopping. Ohh very nice Velma, that really suits you" Daphne was impressed, Velma was not known for her accessorisation skills but she was spot on here "You look a bit out of it; you weren't looking at those rings were you?"

Velma smiled wistfully but then her expression took on a wicked look. "I was so looking at those rings, and that gives me an idea for a little joke, c'mon Daph"

Velma held a finger to her lips signalling for Fred, Daphne and Scooby to be quiet then sauntered up to Shaggy and put her arms around his neck drawing him close to her "Oh Shaggy" she whispered as seductively as she could "Fancy having our honeymoon here? This hotel has a very nice bridal suite."

"Sure things Velms, that sounds great..." Shaggy stopped as his brain finally caught on to what Velma had asked him and his mouth dropped open. Velma bit her bottom lip to contain her amusement but kept looking at him with an expectant gaze. Fred and Scooby was clutching onto each other for support almost doubled up with laughter and Daphne looked ready to pass out as she was laughing too much to breathe properly

"Aw man, you've been taking lessons from Fred!" complained Shaggy but he soon began to smile as he saw the funny side of things. He picked Velma up as if her was ready to carry her over the threshold and met her gaze and whispered too quietly for the others to hear

"So I take it you'll say yes when I ask you then?"


	17. Daphne's Secret Stash

(A/N I had originally thought about having a chapter about the effects the body-swap had had on the gang but it never came together aside from this little piece which is set a short while after they get back.)

Daphne wished everyone a good night, went upstairs and quietly locked the door to her room. She hung her dressing gown on the door, turned out the lights and slowly went to her bed, knelt down and felt under the mattress… there! Her hand closed around some magazines and she carefully removed from their hiding place. A shiver of illicit pleasure travelled down her spine as she picked up her secret stash and clutched them to her bosom. She took a deep breath to calm herself; the anticipation was almost too much. She put a head torch on then crept under the covers until she was sure that no light could escape. In the darkness her hand felt the cover of the magazines. They were all smooth and glossy and she could feel where she had handled them before. Then there were her latest acquisitions, one of which was an _imported_ magazine, the cover was not so shiny, and the paper and ink more like normal newspaper than glossy magazine. The ink might even come off on her hands, the risk of discovery just adding to her thrill. She was tempted to rush headlong into the imported magazine but that would be spoiling things. She took her new acquisitions in her hand, glossy one on top then turned on her head torch. _Oh yes_ she moaned softly, a special edition devoted to the latest advances in Molecular Archaeology. What a night she had in store Scientific American followed by New Scientist. No wonder she looked so tired the next morning.


End file.
